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

04 business license and tax payment is required before operating. 030 bars anyone from buying or selling those secondhand articles in Vista unless the owner and operator has been a bona fide resident of the city for at least one year prior to the license being granted, the same residency threshold that applies to pawnbrokers. 040 requires secondhand dealers, along with junk dealers and pawnbrokers, to keep a running record of every article acquired by purchase, pledge or otherwise, open at all times during ordinary business hours to inspection by any Vista police officer.

050 adds a daily obligation: the dealer must deliver a full report to the Chief of Police each day, on a form the Chief supplies, describing every article acquired the prior calendar day, the hour it was acquired, and the name and description of the person who supplied it. 070 keeps those daily reports confidential, open only to the Police Department unless a court orders otherwise. 080 imposes specifically on pawnbroker businesses; that hours restriction does not extend to a secondhand dealer operating without also lending money on pledged property.