Omaha, NE Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- Issuing office
- Permits and inspections division
- Bond
- Continuing $5,000.00 bond to the city with corporate surety
- Disqualifying convictions
- Unpardoned felony, moral turpitude crime, shoplifting, theft, receiving stolen property
- Permit term
- Expires June 30 or December 31 of the year issued
- Transferable
- No, the permit is personal to the permittee
- Denial appeal
- To the city council under § 30-118
- Penalty for false or missing records
- Misdemeanor under § 30-136
Summary
Anyone in Omaha who lends money against pledged personal property or chattel must first obtain a pawnbroker permit from the permits and inspections division. The applicant must also file a continuing $5,000 bond with corporate surety, and no permit issues to an individual, or to a corporation with an officer, convicted and not pardoned of a felony, a crime of moral turpitude, shoplifting, theft or receiving stolen property.
For the purposes of this article, any person engaged in the business of loaning money on deposit or pledge or personal property or other valuable thing, or any person engaged in the business of loaning money upon chattel property for security and requiring possession of the property so mortgaged, on condition of returning same upon payment of a stipulated amount of money, is hereby declared to be a pawnbroker, or chattel loan broker. ... Any person engaged in the business of pawnbroker or chattel loan broker shall first obtain a permit from the permits and inspections division. ... No permit shall be issued to an individual applicant or corporation if the applicant or a corporate officer has been convicted and not pardoned for a felony, a crime of moral turpitude, shoplifting, theft or receiving stolen property. ... Before any pawnbroker permit shall be issued, the applicant therefor shall execute a continuing bond to the city in the sum of $5,000.00 with good and sufficient corporate surety, approved and filed as required by this Code, and conditioned for the faithful compliance with the provisions of this article.
Full Breakdown
Article IV of Omaha's Sales chapter opens with a definition that sets the scope. Under § 30-111, a pawnbroker, also called a chattel loan broker, is any person in the business of loaning money on deposit or pledge of personal property or another valuable thing, or loaning money on chattel property while keeping possession of it on condition of returning it once a stipulated amount is paid. Section 30-112 then bars anyone in that business from operating until the permits and inspections division has issued a permit.
The application goes to that same division on its forms under § 30-113. It must give the name and address of the owner and of the managing agent. A corporate applicant adds a copy of its articles of incorporation, the names of its officers and shareholders, and the name of its managing agent. The applicant must also state the exact location where the business is conducted, the exact location of any other place where merchandise, goods and wares are stored, and the business e-mail. The e-mail item was added by Ordinance 40327, effective January 1, 2016.
Section 30-114 requires the division to approve every application and sets the character bar: no permit goes to an individual or corporation if the applicant or a corporate officer has been convicted and not pardoned for a felony, a crime of moral turpitude, shoplifting, theft or receiving stolen property. Before any permit is issued, § 30-115 requires a continuing bond to the city of $5,000.00 with good and sufficient corporate surety, approved and filed as the Code requires and conditioned on faithful compliance with Article IV. Section 30-116 sets the permit fee by pointing to § 19-71, and the article's cross references send readers to § 19-64 for money lenders and § 19-71 for pawnbrokers on the occupation tax.
Once issued, the permit is personal to the permittee under § 30-119 and cannot be transferred or assigned. Section 30-120 confines business and storage to the locations listed on the application, and § 30-121 ends every permit on June 30 or December 31 of the year it was issued.
Violations & Fines
Operating as a pawnbroker without the permit breaches § 30-112, and displaying a sign or advertisement that money is loaned on goods, or that goods of the kind named in the article are bought or sold, is separately unlawful for any person without a permit under § 30-131. Under § 30-136, a false statement on the application, a failure to keep or complete the required records, a false or unintelligible entry, a failure to produce the license or records to an examining officer, or destroying or negligently losing records is a misdemeanor punished as provided in § 1-10. Section 30-132 also allows suspension or revocation of an issued permit for violating Article IV, any other Code, state or city provision, or any provision classified as a misdemeanor or felony.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who counts as a pawnbroker under Omaha's code?
Who is barred from getting an Omaha pawnbroker permit?
What bond does an Omaha pawnbroker have to post?
What can an applicant do if the permit is denied?
Can a permit be moved, sold or carried past its expiration?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Omaha
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