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

Municipal Code § 25-1 deems a secondhand dealer any person defined in California Business and Professions Code § 21626. Like pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers must obtain a certificate from the Chief of Police under § 25-6, submitting personal history, business address, employee names, and fingerprints and photographs; § 25-7 lets the chief refuse or revoke that certificate for a material misstatement or a disqualifying conviction (theft, receiving stolen property, embezzlement, fraud, false pretenses, or moral turpitude connected to the business), with appeal to the City Council under Chapter 3 (§ 25-8).

Section 25-2 requires a complete written record of every transaction, date and hour, the seller's description and address, driver's license number, and a detailed description of the item, including serial numbers and identifying marks, open to police inspection at any time during business hours. Section 25-3 then requires delivering a department-issued report of that transaction to the Santa Ana Police Department by the day after the deal, with a parallel duty for business-machine dealers to report used typewriters, cash registers, calculators and similar equipment. Section 25-4 has the chief supply the report forms free of charge and keep completed reports filed securely, open only to police or by court order.

Section 25-9 requires holding each item at least 21 days for police inspection, extendable to 90 days on a police hold order. m. Section 25-11 exempts identifiable secondhand tangible personal property that is itself exempt from state regulation under Business and Professions Code § 21629. Dealers are taxed as retailers under Chapter 35 (§ 25-12), and § 1-17 lists "secondhand dealers" among the license types subject to citywide conviction-based disqualification.