Gary, IN Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 32, Article III, Division 2 of the Gary Municipal Code sets out the licensing scheme for junk dealers, defined in § 32-70(a) as anyone who buys, sells, barters, stores, exchanges or dismantles junk, rubbish, old paper, rags, rope, bottles, scrap metal other than gold, silver or platinum, or wrecked vehicles and machinery. Section 32-70(b) makes operating as a junk dealer without a city license unlawful. To get one, § 32-71 requires a written application to the city controller stating the location of the business and furnishing proof, satisfactory to the controller, of the applicant's good moral character.

Section 32-72 then requires the applicant to post a $1,000.00 bond to the city, with sureties the controller approves, conditioned on the dealer's compliance with all existing and future city ordinances governing the junk business. The fee itself is graduated by square footage of the property the dealer uses, per § 32-73, and set in the Chapter 20 fee schedule. Licensed junk dealers face ongoing recordkeeping duties: § 32-44 requires a record of every purchase, including the date, a description of the item and any identifying numbers, and the name and address of the seller, open to inspection by the police department at any time.

Section 32-45 bars storing or dismantling junk on streets, alleys, sidewalks or parkways unless it is inside a building or an enclosure at least six feet high. Section 32-47 separately bars any junk dealer from also acting as a pawnbroker, taking pledges or pawns, or holding a pawnbroker's license. Violations of the licensing division are punished under the Code's general penalty, § 1-7, up to $2,500.00 for a first offense and up to $7,500.00 for a second or subsequent offense.