Nashville, TN Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- License
- Required before operating as a pawnbroker
- Register
- Every pawned item logged, open to police
- Daily reports
- Required only in urban services district
- Resale hold
- 15 days unless police chief grants early release
Summary
Metro Nashville requires a license before anyone can operate a pawnbroking business, plus a police-inspected register of every item taken in pawn and, in the urban services district, daily reports to the police chief.
It is unlawful for any person engaged in the sale or exchange of secondhand articles or any other business, to display any sign, device or subterfuge in or about his premises where such business is conducted, resembling the ordinary sign commonly used by pawnbrokers, unless such person shall have first secured from the metropolitan government and has in his possession a license to engage in a general pawnbroking business.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 53 | Charter: Republication 9).
Full Breakdown
Metropolitan Code of Laws § 6.100.010 makes it unlawful to display a pawnbroker-style sign or otherwise hold out as a pawnbroker without first securing a metropolitan pawnbroking license. Licensed pawnbrokers must keep a register describing every item taken in pawn, with the pawner's name, color, and residence, open to police inspection at all times (§ 6.100.020). Anyone doing business in the urban services district must also file daily reports with the police chief listing every pawned or sold item (§ 6.100.030). Pawned goods must sit unsold for fifteen days unless the chief of police issues a written permit to release them sooner (§ 6.100.040).
Violations & Fines
Operating as a pawnbroker without the required license is unlawful. In the urban services district, failing to file the daily police report is a separate offense for each day it continues (§ 6.100.030.C).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a license to run a pawnshop in Nashville?
Does the daily police-report rule apply everywhere in Davidson County?
How long must a pawnbroker hold an item before reselling it?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nashville
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