Yonkers, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)

City Code Chapter 26 bars anyone from carrying on the pawnbroker business in Yonkers, defined to include loaning money on a pledge of personal property, buying property on condition of selling it back at a set price, or acting as a furniture-storage warehouseman that advances money against pledged goods, without a license from the Director of the Office of Licensing tied to a specific designated premises (§ 26-1, § 26-2). The annual license fee is $750, payable to the Comptroller, renewable yearly (§ 26-3B), and every licensee must file a $10,000 surety bond approved by the Corporation Counsel guaranteeing faithful performance of the business (§ 26-3C); the Director can suspend or revoke the license for cause.

Every loan must be logged in a book recording the goods pledged, amount loaned, date, interest rate and the pledgor's name and address, with an identifying card filed with the Office of Licensing within 24 hours of taking the item (§ 26-5); the pawnbroker must give the pledgor a signed memorandum of the same information at no charge (§ 26-6), and those books are open to inspection by the Director, criminal court judges and police (§ 26-7). Interest is capped at 3% per month for the first six months and 2% per month after that on loans up to $100, or 2% for the first six months and 1% after that on loans over $100, whichever is less than the state-law maximum (§ 26-8).

00 (§ 26-9). A pledge cannot be sold until it has sat unredeemed for a full year, and any sale must be by public auction with 10 days' mailed notice to the pledgor and 6 days' newspaper notice (§ 26-10, § 26-11).