Escondido, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Municipal Code Ch. 15, Art. 4 and Ch. 16
- Record form source
- Chief of police-issued purchase record forms
- Filing frequency
- Weekly, first day of each week
- Copies required
- Triplicate
- Background check
- Required under Sec. 16-131
- State definitions used
- Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 21601, 21606, 21626
Summary
Secondhand dealers, junk dealers, and auto wreckers in Escondido must hold a business license under Chapter 16 and keep a written record of every purchase and sale on city-supplied forms. Copies must be submitted to the police department weekly, and applicants face a police background investigation before a license issues.
Sec. 15-32. To be kept. Every person engaged in or carrying on the business of a secondhand dealer, junk dealer or auto wrecker shall keep a written record of all sales and purchases made in the course of his business. ... Sec. 15-39. Weekly submission of copies to police. A licensee shall forward on the first day of each week one copy of the record required by this article to the office of the chief of police.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4940164; v19 updated 2026-06-24).
Full Breakdown
Municipal Code Sec. 15-2 subjects every secondhand dealer, junk dealer, or auto wrecker licensee to all applicable terms of the general business license chapter, Chapter 16. Sec. 15-1 adopts the state definitions for these trades, incorporating Business and Professions Code Sec. 21601 (junk dealer) and Sec. 21626 (secondhand dealer) directly into the local ordinance. The recordkeeping regime in Article 4 is the operative day-to-day rule: Sec. 15-32 requires every person carrying on secondhand dealer, junk dealer, or auto wrecker business to keep a written record of all sales and purchases, using forms the chief of police prepares and sells to licensees under Sec.
15-33 and Sec. 15-34. Sec. 15-36 requires those records to include the same information mandated by Business and Professions Code Sec. 21606, and Sec. 15-37 requires the entries to be made in triplicate and written, printed, or typed legibly. Records must be kept on file at the licensee's place of business, open to inspection at all reasonable times by the chief of police, city police officers, or any state peace officer under Sec. 15-38, and Sec. 15-39 requires a licensee to forward one copy of the record to the police chief's office on the first day of every week.
On the licensing side, Sec. 16-131 lists secondhand dealers among the businesses that trigger a mandatory police background investigation before a license is granted, and Sec. 16-133 makes a felony or misdemeanor conviction prima facie grounds to deny the license unless the chief of police finds mitigating circumstances such as the offense's age, seriousness, and evidence of rehabilitation.
Violations & Fines
Operating as a secondhand or junk dealer without the Chapter 16 business license, or failing to keep and submit the purchase records required by Article 4, is a code violation enforceable under the city's general penalty provisions; the chief of police can also deny, and the city can revoke, the license itself based on a disqualifying conviction under Sec. 16-133 absent mitigating circumstances. Failure to file the weekly purchase-record copy under Sec. 15-39 removes the paper trail police rely on to trace stolen property, which is the ordinance's central enforcement purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Escondido require secondhand dealers to keep transaction records?
How often do secondhand dealers report to police in Escondido?
Can a felony conviction stop me from getting a secondhand dealer license?
Who can inspect a secondhand dealer's purchase records?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Escondido
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