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

Porterville Municipal Code § 15-5.C requires anyone engaging in the business of maintaining, operating, conducting, carrying on, or managing a junk or secondhand dealership to hold a city business license. That license sits on top of a separate permit process spelled out at § 15-20.C for anyone buying or selling old rope, brass, copper, tin, lead, rags, slush, empty bottles, paper, bagging, or other junk, whether at a fixed shop or as an itinerant peddler.

The permit application goes to the city council, which refers it to the chief of police for a character investigation due back within seven days. Council must grant the permit unless the police report shows the applicant lacks good moral character or honesty and integrity, and no permit issues at all unless the applicant, or a corporate applicant's manager, has lived in Porterville for at least ninety days before applying.

Once permitted, a junk shop or junkyard operator must keep a substantial well-bound book logging every item purchased, the date, the seller's name and address, and identifying marks, open to inspection by the chief of police or any city officer during business hours. Every item bought must be held at least nine days before resale, giving police a window to trace stolen property. Junk shops and junkyards cannot double as pawnbrokers on the same premises, and no junk peddler may buy or collect junk anywhere in the city between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

The city council can revoke a junk dealer's permit outright if the operator breaks the chapter's rules or violates any state, county or city law in running the business. Because § 15-20 sits in the licensing chapter, the council can also refuse a license under § 15-5.1 to any applicant it finds unfit, dishonest, or likely to run the business unlawfully.