Lake Elsinore, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Lake Elsinore regulates secondhand dealers through Chapter 5.80, Wrecking Yards and Junk Dealers, whose statutory footnote points to the state secondhand-goods-dealer law at Business and Professions Code § 21626. A 'junk dealer' is defined as a person with a fixed place of business in the City buying, selling or dealing in old rags, sacks, bottles, cans, papers, metal or similar articles commonly described as junk (§ 5.80.010). No person may carry on that business, or a wrecking yard, without first obtaining a City permit that must be posted conspicuously on the premises (§ 5.80.020(A)).

The written application must include the applicant's name, age and address, or corporate details, the exact address where the business will operate, and two recent color photographs and fingerprints of the applicant or of any partner or 10-percent-plus corporate owner (§ 5.80.030(A)). The Chief Law Enforcement Officer investigates and forwards the application to the state Department of Justice; if DOJ raises no objection within 30 days, the license may issue for a one-year term, but any conviction for receiving stolen property is grounds for denial (§ 5.80.030(B)).

Operationally, dealers may not resell any article within three days of receiving it, may not operate between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and must honor a law enforcement hold order extending the retention period up to 30 additional days (§ 5.80.080). A denied applicant can request a City Council hearing within five days of denial (§ 5.80.040), and any violation of the chapter voids and revokes the permit in addition to other code penalties (§§ 5.80.050, 5.80.090).