Costa Mesa, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Costa Mesa Municipal Code § 9-209 adopts, as city law, the state's secondhand-dealer statutes (Business and Professions Code §§ 21500-21653 and Financial Code §§ 21200-21209), then layers a local license on top under § 9-210: no person, firm, corporation or other entity may engage in the occupation of secondhand dealer, as defined in Business and Professions Code § 21626, without first obtaining a license from the chief of police. Applications are filed with the city's director of finance on California Department of Justice forms, and the director may charge a fee in addition to the state's own application fee; every application is forwarded immediately to the chief of police.

Under § 9-211, the chief of police reviews each application and must deny a license to anyone convicted of an offense involving stolen property, though a denied applicant has the right to review their own criminal history record. Before granting a license, the chief submits the applicant's fingerprint card and state fees to the California Department of Justice, and if the department does not respond within 30 days, the chief decides using the information already on hand. Section 9-212 lets a granted license lapse: it is deemed expired within six months if the licensee has not actively operated a licensed place of business inside city limits for at least 90 continuous days during that six-month window.

Licenses renew annually under § 9-213 upon a renewal application and fee paid to the director of finance, and may be revoked, or a renewal denied, for violations including dealing in secondhand goods with a minor, operating outside the building named on the license, failing to post the license where it can be seen, or repeatedly filing illegible or unsigned transaction reports; revocation follows a chief-of-police hearing after at least 10 days' certified-mail notice. Section 9-214 assigns the chief of police responsibility for identifying which local businesses meet the secondhand-dealer definition, authorizing early release of held property for good cause, and forwarding daily dealer reports to the California Department of Justice.