Provo, UT Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- License
- Required before any pawn transaction
- Bond
- $1,000 corporate surety bond
- Redemption hold
- Minimum 30 days
- Records retention
- 4 years (electronic copies)
- Separate rooms
- Cannot share room with alcohol business
Summary
Provo requires anyone operating as a pawnbroker to hold a City business license and post a $1,000 surety bond before taking in a single item. Pawned goods must stay redeemable for at least 30 days, and a pawn business cannot share a room with an alcohol-selling business.
No license may be issued to a pawnbroker or a secondhand dealer until the applicant has executed and delivered to the City a bond in the principal amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) executed by a corporate surety authorized to do business in the State of Utah and conditioned upon the faithful performance by the applicant of all the requirements of this Chapter. ... Unless otherwise expressly provided in the agreement between a merchant and a customer, the customer shall have the right to redeem the goods which are the subject of a transaction between them. All goods which are subject to a customer's right of redemption shall be retained by the merchant and shall be subject to redemption for a minimum of thirty (30) days, or such longer period as the agreement between them describes. ... It shall be unlawful for any pawnbroker to contain a pawnbroking business in the same room, or in the same building with interconnected rooms with any business dealing in alcoholic beverages.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-17, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
030). 010 as anyone who takes possession of goods in exchange for money with an agreement, express or implied, to return or resell the goods once the customer repays. 040). 080 bars any pawnbroker from operating in the same room, or an interconnected room in the same building, as a business dealing in alcoholic beverages. 040, including the customer's thumbprint and ID information, with copies going to the Provo Police Department and the Utah County Sheriff's Office. Records must be verified from a government-issued photo ID and retained for four years if submitted electronically. 06 if the merchant disputes the claim.
Violations & Fines
Violating the transaction-record, redemption-holding, or separate-rooms requirements is grounds for license revocation under Section 6.05.070, which the City administration can impose after a hearing where the licensee gets a full opportunity to be heard. A merchant who fails to surrender goods reasonably believed stolen, or who declines a Chapter 3.06 hearing on disputed ownership, faces revocation under Section 6.05.060 independent of any separate civil or criminal case over the goods.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long must a Provo pawnbroker hold pawned goods before selling them?
Does Provo require a bond to operate as a pawnbroker?
Can a Provo pawn shop share space with a bar or liquor store?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Provo
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