PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 2897, 3884 PRINTER'S NO. 4212
No. 2279 Session of 1992
INTRODUCED BY HAYDEN, OLIVER, MAIALE, JAMES, JOSEPHS,
RICHARDSON, BISHOP, DONATUCCI, KOSINSKI, THOMAS, ACOSTA AND
J. TAYLOR, JANUARY 7, 1992
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
NOVEMBER 17, 1992
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 6, 1937 (P.L.200, No.51), entitled "An
2 act licensing and regulating the business of pawnbrokers;
3 providing for the issuance of licenses by the Secretary of
4 Banking; authorizing the Secretary of Banking to make
5 examinations and issue regulations; limiting the interest and
6 charges on loans; and prescribing penalties for the violation
7 of this act," further providing for application for license;
8 providing for a hearing and license renewal; and further
9 providing for license fees and powers of the Secretary of
10 Banking.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. Section 4 of the act of April 6, 1937 (P.L.200,
14 No.51), known as the Pawnbrokers License Act, is amended to
15 read:
16 Section 4. Application for License.--(a) The application
17 for such license shall be in writing, under oath and in the form
18 prescribed by the Secretary of Banking and shall contain the
19 name and address of the residence of the applicant, and if the
20 applicant is a partnership, association, joint-stock company or
21 common law trust of every member thereof, and if the applicant
1 is a business corporation or nonprofit corporation of each
2 officer and director thereof; also the county and municipality
3 with street and number, if any, office building and room number,
4 if any, where the business is to be conducted and such further
5 information as the Secretary of Banking may require. The
6 application shall be signed by the individual owner if the
7 applicant is an individual, by all the partners if the applicant
8 is a partnership, by two officers if the applicant is an
9 association, joint-stock company or common law trust, and by the
10 president and secretary if the applicant is a business
11 corporation or a nonprofit corporation.
12 (b) Every applicant for a new license shall post, for a
13 period of at least thirty (30) days beginning with the day the
14 application is filed with the Secretary of Banking, in a
15 conspicuous place on the outside of the premises or at the
16 proposed new location for which the licensee applies, a notice
17 of such application, in such form, of such size, and containing
18 such provisions as the Secretary of Banking may require by its
19 regulations. Proof of the posting of such notice shall be filed
20 with the Secretary of Banking.
21 Section 2. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
22 Section 4.1. Hearing.--A hearing shall be held upon <--
23 application for a pawnbroker's license. The Secretary of Banking
24 shall permit residents residing within a radius of five hundred
25 (500) feet of the proposed location to testify at the hearing.
26 The Secretary of Banking shall give appropriate evidentiary
27 weight to any testimony of these residents at the hearing.
28 SECTION 4.1. HEARING.--IF A PERSON WHO RESIDES WITHIN A <--
29 RADIUS OF FIVE HUNDRED (500) FEET OF THE PROPOSED LOCATION OR A
30 LICENSED PAWNBROKER FILES AN OBJECTION TO AN APPLICATION FILED
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1 UNDER SECTION 4, THE SECRETARY OF BANKING MAY HOLD A HEARING ON
2 THE APPLICATION TO HEAR THE OBJECTIONS OF ANY RESIDENT WITHIN
3 FIVE HUNDRED (500) FEET OR LICENSED PAWNBROKER.
4 Section 5.1. License Renewal.--(a) An application for
5 license renewal shall be published thirty (30) days before
6 renewal in a newspaper of general circulation in the
7 municipality where the license is to be renewed.
8 (b) The Secretary of Banking may not renew the license of an
9 applicant who has been adjudged in violation of this act by
10 operating without a proper license. This nonrenewal period shall
11 be for a minimum of five (5) years.
12 Section 3. Section 6 of the act is amended to read:
13 Section 6. License Fee.--Every application for license under
14 this act shall be accompanied by an annual license fee of [one
15 hundred ($100.00)] three hundred ($300.00) dollars. All licenses
16 shall expire on October first annually. No abatement of the said
17 license fee shall be made if the license is issued for less than
18 one year. Every license shall be renewed annually on the first
19 day of October and an additional license fee of [one hundred
20 ($100.00)] three hundred ($300.00) dollars shall be paid for the
21 next ensuing license year.
22 All license fees and fines received by the Secretary of
23 Banking shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit
24 of the Banking Department Fund for the use of the Secretary of
25 Banking in administering this act.
26 Section 4. Section 8 of the act, repealed in part April 28,
27 1978 (P.L.202, No.53), is amended to read:
28 Section 8. Powers of the Secretary of Banking.--(a) The
29 Secretary of Banking shall have the power to reject any
30 application for license if he is satisfied that the financial
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1 responsibility, experience, character, and general fitness of
2 the applicant or applicants is not such as to command the
3 confidence of the community and to warrant the conclusion that
4 the business will be operated honestly, fairly, and within the
5 laws of this Commonwealth, or if he is not satisfied that
6 allowing such applicant to engage in business will promote the
7 convenience and advantage of the community in which the business
8 of the applicant is to be conducted: Provided, however, That no
9 license may be issued to an applicant who has been convicted
10 under this act for engaging in the business of pawnbroking in
11 this Commonwealth, without having obtained a license under this
12 act. Further, the Secretary of Banking may reject an application <--
13 for a license based upon proliferation of existing licenses
14 within the same area, community opposition to the application
15 and inability to meet minimum capital requirements or
16 recordkeeping obligations. FURTHER, IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO <--
17 REJECT AN APPLICATION FOR A LICENSE, THE SECRETARY OF BANKING
18 MAY TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHETHER THERE IS A PROLIFERATION OF
19 EXISTING LICENSES WITHIN THE SAME AREA, THERE IS COMMUNITY
20 OPPOSITION TO THE APPLICATION AND THE APPLICANT IS LIKELY TO BE
21 UNABLE TO MEET MINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS OR RECORDKEEPING
22 OBLIGATIONS.
23 (b) The Secretary of Banking may, upon thirty (30) days'
24 written notice to the pawnbroker, forwarded by registered mail
25 to the place of business of such pawnbroker as shown in the
26 application for license, stating the contemplated action and in
27 general the grounds therefor, revoke any license if the
28 pawnbroker shall violate any provision of this act, or if the
29 pawnbroker shall violate any rule or regulation made by the
30 Secretary of Banking under and within the authority of this act,
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1 or if a pawnbroker shall fail to comply with any demand, rule or
2 regulation lawfully made by the Secretary of Banking under and
3 within the authority of this act, or if the pawnbroker shall
4 fail to pay the cost of examination by the Secretary of Banking
5 or his authorized representative, or if the pawnbroker has
6 failed to maintain in effect the bond required under the
7 provisions of this act, or if the pawnbroker shall fail to file
8 the annual report to the Secretary of Banking within the time
9 stipulated in this act, or if any fact or condition exists
10 which, if it had existed at the time of original application for
11 such license, clearly would have warranted the Secretary of
12 Banking originally in refusing to issue such license. Whenever
13 such license is revoked, the Secretary of Banking shall not
14 issue another to the said pawnbroker until the expiration of at
15 least one year from the date of revocation of such license and
16 not at all if such pawnbroker shall have been convicted for a
17 deliberate violation of this act or for a second offense.
18 (c) The Secretary of Banking may require a pawnbroker
19 licensed under this act to file special reports in addition to
20 the annual report required under this act.
21 (d) The Secretary of Banking is hereby authorized and
22 empowered to issue rules and regulations governing the records
23 to be maintained by a pawnbroker licensed under this act, and he
24 is further authorized and empowered to issue such general rules
25 and regulations as may be necessary for the protection of the
26 public and to insure the proper conduct of such business, and
27 for the enforcement of this act, which rules and regulations
28 shall have the force and effect of law. These rules and
29 regulations shall include minimum start-up and capital operating
30 requirements, the filing of annual reports to the Secretary of
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1 Banking and any other financial recordkeeping the Secretary of
2 Banking deems necessary to ensure compliance with this act.
3 Section 5. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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