Corona, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- License required
- § 5.42.020(A), posted on premises
- Report due
- daily to Chief of Police
- Holding period
- 30 days before resale
- Police hold extension
- additional 30 days
- Record retention
- 1 year minimum
- Third-offense penalty
- up to $25,000 / 6 months jail
- Threshold test
- >20% gross sales secondhand goods
Summary
Corona requires every secondhand dealer and pawnbroker to hold a city license before buying, selling or trading used property, under Corona Code of Ordinances § 5.42.020(A). Dealers must report each purchase to the Chief of Police and hold every item for 30 days before resale, and junk dealers and collectors run through the same licensing chapter under Chapter 5.26.
No personnel shall carry on the business of a secondhand dealer without first having obtained a license from the city to do so in the manner provided in this chapter, which license shall be posted and maintained in a conspicuous place on the premises where such business is conducted.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-56: Supplement contains: Local legislation passed through Ord. 3423, passed 12-3-2025).
Full Breakdown
010(A) as anyone whose principal business is buying, selling, trading, pawning, consigning or auctioning secondhand tangible personal property, or who does so for more than 20% of gross sales; pawnbrokers must comply with the same chapter. 020(A) makes it unlawful to carry on that business without first having obtained a license from the city, and the license must be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises. 26), and charitable or religious organizations operating solely for their own purposes. 030(A), supplying name and address, prior license refusals in any jurisdiction, three years of employment history, physical description, two color photographs and fingerprints, plus a fee set by City Council resolution.
100(B) requires those records be kept for at least one year. 110(B) runs from the date the acquisition was reported; the Chief of Police may authorize early release for good cause. 110(C), and disposing of property against a hold order is itself unlawful. 020(B).
Violations & Fines
Violating any provision of Chapter 5.42, including operating without a license or reselling before the 30-day hold expires, is a misdemeanor under § 5.42.150. A first offense carries a fine up to $1,500 or up to two months in county jail, or both; a second offense up to $5,000 or four months; a third or later offense up to $25,000 or six months, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do pawnbrokers need a secondhand dealer license in Corona?
How long must a Corona secondhand dealer hold an item before reselling it?
Are junk dealers covered by the same license as secondhand dealers?
What records must a Corona secondhand dealer keep?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Corona
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