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

City Code § 14-727 makes it unlawful to "carry on the business of a pawnbroker, loan broker or keeper of a loan office" in Waukegan without first obtaining a license under article I of chapter 14, and section 14-727(c) fixes a hard citywide cap: "the total number of licenses issued and outstanding at any given time shall not exceed three." The fee schedule in section 14-1101(a) sets the annual pawnbroker license fee at $3,000.00, far above the $150 to $1,200 range charged for tiered general business licenses.

Section 14-726 defines a "pawnbroker" broadly to cover anyone who loans money on deposit or pledge of personal property, who buys goods on condition of selling them back at a stipulated price, or who displays a pawnbroker's sign. Section 14-728 requires every licensee to post a $1,000.00 bond "conditioned for the due observance of the provisions of this division." Recordkeeping is mandatory under section 14-729: each pawnbroker must keep a book with an ink entry made at the time of every loan describing the pledged goods, the loan amount, the pledge date, the interest rate, and the pledgor's name and address, and "no entry made in such book shall be erased, obliterated or defaced." Section 14-730 requires the pawnbroker to hand the customer a signed memorandum of the same information at no charge.

Section 14-731 opens both the record books and every pledged article to inspection "at all reasonable times" by any member of the police force. Section 14-732 separately bars taking any pledge from, or belonging to, a minor.