Palatine, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

Section 20-329 of the Village Code makes it unlawful to operate or carry on a pawnbroking business in Palatine without first obtaining a license under the chapter's general application procedure in Section 20-2. Once licensed, Section 20-330 requires every pawnbroker to keep a record of each article pledged with or sold to the business, open to inspection by any police officer and reported in whatever manner the police department specifies; the same section ties local recordkeeping to the state's Pawnbrokers Regulation Act of 2023, codified at 205 ILCS 511/1 et seq., with which pawnbrokers must remain compliant.

Section 20-331 bars a pawnbroker from receiving as a pledge, purchasing, or displaying for sale in the shop or window any revolver, pistol, blackjack, or sawed-off shotgun, keeping firearms and improvised weapons out of the pawn trade entirely. Section 20-332 sets an age floor of 21 for the business itself: no pawnbroker's license goes to anyone under 21, no pawnbroker may employ anyone under 21 to help run the business, and no pawnbroker may transact with a customer under 21 without the written consent of a parent or guardian for that specific transaction.

Section 20-333 obligates a pawnbroker to report to police any item pledged, or offered for pledge, that the pawnbroker has reason to believe was stolen or was lost property being pledged by whoever found it. A pawnbroker who also wants to run a secondhand dealer business needs the separate secondhand dealer license required by Section 20-334, on top of the pawnbroker's license. Any violation of the pawnbroker division is fined under the village fine schedule per Section 20-336, and the village manager can suspend or revoke the license under Section 20-335 using the chapter 20 hearing procedure.