Oyster Bay, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Adopted March 31, 2009 by Local Law No. 3-2009 under General Business Law § 40, Chapter 94 requires anyone loaning money against pledged personal property, buying items with a right to sell them back at a set price, or running a furniture storage warehouse that advances money on pledged goods, to get a collateral loan broker license from the Town Clerk before opening in Oyster Bay. Section 94-3 requires filing a registration statement with the Town Clerk under General Business Law § 53 before establishing the business, and § 94-4(C) requires a bond under General Business Law § 41.

Applicants under § 94-4(G) must submit two two-inch-by-two-inch photographs taken within 60 days, fingerprints sent to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, proof of legal age and citizenship or lawful permanent residence, a description of the business, and disclosure of any prior criminal convictions. Corporate applicants skip photographs but every officer and any stockholder holding 10% or more must be fingerprinted. Section 94-4(E) requires a posted sign, with lettering at least one inch high, telling customers that all sales can be canceled within five business days and that jewelry, watches, precious stones, precious metals or coin sales can be converted back to a loan within 14 days.

The Town Clerk can deny a license under § 94-4(I), added in 2021, for a disqualifying criminal conviction, fraud findings by a court, or a revocation within the prior year or an unexpired suspension. Licenses are personal to the licensee and cannot be sold, assigned or transferred under § 94-4(F), and § 94-5 layers on the secondhand-dealer rules of Chapter 192 for any broker that also buys or sells used goods.