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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 2, 2015 02:14 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Pawnbrokers License Act |
| In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation which provides for the identity of a pledger, pawn tickets, hold orders and related procedures, as well as for pledge and penalties. It should be noted that this legislation passed the House and was referred to the Senate last legislative session. Specifically, this legislation mandates that the identity of a pledger include the name, address, age, sex, and race. In addition, this measure requires that a pledger provide a valid form of photo identification issued by a Federal or state government agency, and that a digital photograph of the pledger be taken at the time of the transaction. Moreover, when an appropriate law enforcement official has probable cause to believe that property in the possession of a pawn broker has been misappropriated (stolen), the official may place a written order on the property, which shall not exceed ninety (90) days. During this instance, pawn brokers would be compelled to release the property under a hold order to law enforcement officials for its use in a criminal investigation. Finally, any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or a business entity that commits a violation of this act shall, upon conviction, have its license revoked, and such an individual partnership, association, corporation, or business entity shall also be deemed ineligible to apply for a pawnbroker’s license for five (5) years following the date of conviction for the initial offense. With these concerns in mind, and once again with your overwhelming support, I believe that this legislation will enable law enforcement officials to conduct proper investigations and, as a result, will provide better protections for Pennsylvania’s consumers and pawnbrokers. Previous Co-Sponsors (HB890): V. BROWN, HARHAI , D. COSTA, COHEN , STERN , KORTZ , BROWNLEE, KINSEY, MURT , PARKER and CALTAGIRONE |