New Orleans, LA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Code of Ordinances § 130-39
- License required
- current parish Occupational License
- Records retention
- 3 years, written purchase/sale ledger
- Copper/scrap hold period
- 7 days, 30 if theft reported
- First violation penalty
- $500 fine and/or 6 months jail
- Second offense
- court may bar business up to 30 days
Summary
New Orleans requires every junk dealer, anyone buying, selling, or gathering scrap metal, wiring, or other secondhand property for resale, to hold a current Occupational License from the parish under Code of Ordinances Sec. 130-39, plus a written purchase-and-sale record for every transaction, keyed to seller ID, submitted for police inspection and preserved for at least three years.
As used in this section, "junk dealer" includes any person engaged in the business of buying, selling and dealing in junk, any person purchasing, gathering, collecting, soliciting or traveling about from place to place procuring junk, and any person operating, carrying on, conducting or maintaining a junk yard or place where junk is gathered together and stored or kept for shipment, sale or transfer. All "junk dealers" must possess a current Occupational License from the parish in which the person identifies as the domicile of his business.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 116 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 130-39 regulates "secondhand goods transfer," defining "junk dealer" to include anyone engaged in buying, selling, or dealing in junk, ferrous and nonferrous metals, wiring, cable, air-conditioning components, and similar scrap, as well as anyone operating a junkyard where junk is gathered and stored for shipment or sale. " Beyond the license, every junk dealer must keep a written record of each purchase and sale, seller's name, address and phone number, date, item description and weight, a photocopy of the seller's occupational license and driver's license, and the vehicle plate used to deliver the material, and submit that information to the New Orleans Police Department in the manner the superintendent of police prescribes.
Certain classes are excluded, including secondhand furniture merchants, pawnbrokers, secondhand car dealers, and secondhand clothing merchants. Copper and aluminum items, and any storm-drainage material or utility manhole cover, must be held for at least seven days before resale, extended to 30 days if a utility reports a theft. Records must be preserved for three years and produced for inspection during normal business hours.
Violations & Fines
Operating without the required Occupational License, failing to keep the mandated purchase-and-sale ledger, or filing false information is a misdemeanor under Sec. 130-39(f). A knowing and willful violation carries a fine of $500.00, up to six months' imprisonment, or both; for a second offense the court may also order the dealer to stop doing business as a junk dealer for up to 30 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do junk dealers need a city license in New Orleans?
What records must a junk dealer keep?
What's the penalty for operating without a license?
Are all secondhand businesses covered by this section?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Orleans
Compare New Orleans to another location·View the Louisiana business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.