Whittier, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited hours
- No pawn transactions 7 p.m.-7 a.m.
- Daily report to
- Chief of Police (buy-form)
- ID required
- Photo ID plus right index fingerprint
- Holding period
- 30 days before sale, melt or disposal
- Records retained
- 2 years, open to any peace officer
- Chief's hold order
- Up to 90 days on acquired property
Summary
Whittier regulates pawnbrokers as a distinct, closely watched license category under Chapter 5.48. Section 5.48.010 defines who counts as a pawnbroker, and Section 5.48.020 bars any pawn transaction between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., pairing that operating-hours limit with mandatory daily reporting and identification rules enforced by the chief of police.
"Pawnbroker" means any person engaged in any one or more of the following businesses: 1.Pawnbroking; 2.Lending money for himself/herself or any other person upon personal property, pawns or pledges, in the possession of the lender; 3.Purchasing articles of personal property and reselling or agreeing to resell such articles to the vendors or assignees at prices agreed upon at or before the time of the purchase. ... A pawnbroker shall not, and an agent or employee of a pawnbroker shall not accept any pledge or lend any money on personal property or purchase or receive any goods or merchandise or any article or thing whatsoever or in any manner whatsoever engage in or conduct the business of pawnbroker between seven p.m. of any day and seven a.m. of the following day.
Full Breakdown
Every licensee must mail the chief of police a daily buy-form listing every item pledged, sold or purchased that day, with a full description and the intended seller's certification of ownership (Section 5.48.030). Section 5.48.040 requires collecting positive identification and a plain impression of the seller's right index fingerprint on the buy-form, and Section 5.48.060 limits acceptable ID to a currently valid, photo-bearing driver's license, state ID, federal ID or passport plus a second item showing an address. Records and the pledged property itself must be preserved for two years and produced for inspection to any peace officer on request (Sections 5.48.070 and 5.48.080).
A licensee cannot melt, sell or otherwise dispose of an item until 30 days after reporting it to the chief of police, and cannot clean, alter, repair or repaint it until that hold period ends or the chief releases it, though Business and Professions Code Section 21638.5 exempts a pledger's own redemption of pledged property from the hold (Sections 5.48.090 and 5.48.100). The chief of police may also place a 90-day hold order on any acquired property and can require the licensee to record who it was later sold to (Section 5.48.120), and no licensee may export pledged or purchased goods out of the country until the chief has inspected and released them (Section 5.48.130).
Property bought on a bill of sale from a business established at the same location for at least six months is exempt from the waiting period (Section 5.48.140).
Violations & Fines
Accepting a pledge, lending money, or buying goods as a pawnbroker outside the 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. curfew in Section 5.48.020 violates the chapter, as does failing to file the daily buy-form with the chief of police, disposing of held property before the 30-day hold in Section 5.48.090 expires, altering pledged goods before release under Section 5.48.100, or exporting goods before the chief inspects and releases them under Section 5.48.130. The chief of police is the enforcing officer for the chapter's reporting, identification, holding and inspection duties.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Whittier
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