BILL NUMBER: SB 1520 CHAPTERED 09/30/00 CHAPTER 994 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 28, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2000 INTRODUCED BY Senator Schiff FEBRUARY 17, 2000 An act to amend Sections 21628 and 21630 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to secondhand goods. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1520, Schiff. Secondhand dealers: coin dealers: reporting. Existing law requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, on forms either approved or provided at actual cost by the Department of Justice, to report daily all tangible personal property purchased, taken in trade or pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or for auctioning, to the chief of police or sheriff. That report, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, is required to be submitted by mail. A violation of these reporting requirements, as well as other provisions that regulate the secondhand and coin dealer businesses, is a crime. This bill would require the department, in consultation with local law enforcement agencies, to develop clear and comprehensive descriptive categories for this property and to develop, also in consultation with these agencies as well as with representatives of the secondhand and coin dealer businesses, a format that secondhand and coin dealers would be required to use to electronically report these property transactions. This bill would exempt from this electronic reporting requirement a coin dealer who engages in less than 10 transactions each week each consisting of not more than one item, as defined, in which he or she purchases, takes in trade or pawn, or accepts for sale, consignment, or auction tangible personal property. The bill would require these coin dealers to report by mail or facsimile transmission these transactions under the categories and on a form developed for this purpose by the Attorney General. Because this bill would specify particular reporting methods for secondhand and coin dealers, it would expand the scope of an existing crime and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 21628 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 21628. Every secondhand dealer or coin dealer described in Section 21626 shall report daily, or on the first working day after receipt or purchase of the property, on forms either approved or provided at actual cost by the Department of Justice, all tangible personal property which he or she has purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or accepted for auctioning, to the chief of police or to the sheriff, in accordance with the provisions of Sections 21630 and 21633 and subdivision (j) of this section. The report shall be legible, prepared in English, completed where applicable, and include, but not be limited to, the following information: (a) The name and current address of the intended seller or pledgor of the property. (b) The identification of the intended seller or pledgor. The identification of the seller or pledgor of the property shall be verified by the person taking the information. The verification shall be valid if the person taking the information reasonably relies on any one of the following documents, provided that the document is currently valid or has been issued within five years and contains a photograph or description, or both, of the person named on it, is signed by the person, and bears a serial or other identifying number: (1) A passport of the United States. (2) A driver's license issued by any state, or Canada. (3) An identification card issued by any state. (4) An identification card issued by the United States. (5) A passport from any other country in addition to another item of identification bearing an address. (c) A complete and reasonably accurate description of serialized property, including, but not limited to, the following: serial number and other identifying marks or symbols, owner-applied numbers, manufacturer's named brand, and model name or number. Watches need not be disassembled when special skill or special tools are required to obtain the required information, unless specifically requested to do so by a peace officer. A special tool does not include a penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument and disassembling a watch with a penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument does not constitute a special skill. In all instances where the required information may be obtained by removal of a watchband, then the watchband shall be removed. The cost associated with opening the watch shall be borne by the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or customer. (d) A complete and reasonably accurate description of nonserialized property, including, but not limited to, the following: size, color, material, manufacturer's pattern name (when known), owner-applied numbers and personalized inscriptions and other identifying marks or symbols. Watches need not be disassembled when special skill or special tools are required to obtain the required information, unless specifically requested to do so by a peace officer. A special tool does not include a penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument and disassembling a watch with a penknife, caseknife, or similar instrument does not constitute a special skill. In all instances where the required information may be obtained by removal of a watchband, then the watchband shall be removed. The cost associated with opening the watch shall be borne by the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or customer. (e) A certification by the intended seller or pledgor that he or she is the owner of the property or has the authority of the owner to sell or pledge the property. (f) A certification by the intended seller or pledgor that to his or her knowledge and belief the information is true and complete. (g) A legible fingerprint taken from the intended seller or pledgor, as prescribed by the Department of Justice. This requirement does not apply to a coin dealer, unless required pursuant to local regulation. (h) When a secondhand dealer complies with all of the provisions of this section, he or she shall be deemed to have received from the seller or pledgor adequate evidence of authority to sell or pledge the property for all purposes included in this article, and Division 8 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Financial Code. In enacting this subdivision, it is the intent of the Legislature that its provisions shall not adversely affect the implementation of, or prosecution under, any provision of the Penal Code. (i) Any person who conducts business as a secondhand dealer at any gun show or event, as defined in Section 178.100 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or its successor, outside the jurisdiction that issued the secondhand dealer license in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 21641, may be required to submit a duplicate of the transaction report prepared pursuant to this section to the local law enforcement agency where the gun show or event is conducted. (j) (1) The Department of Justice shall, in consultation with appropriate local law enforcement agencies, develop clear and comprehensive descriptive categories denoting tangible personal property subject to the reporting requirements of this section. These categories shall be incorporated by secondhand dealers and coin dealers described in Section 21626 for purposes of the reporting requirements set forth herein. Any required report shall be transmitted by electronic means. The Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies, in consultation with representatives from the secondhand dealer and coin dealer businesses, shall develop a standard format to be used statewide to transmit this report electronically. (2) Twelve months after the format and the categories described in paragraph (1) have been developed, each secondhand dealer and coin dealer shall electronically report using this format the information required by this section under these reporting categories. Until that time, each secondhand dealer and coin dealer may either continue to report this information using existing forms and procedures or may begin electronically reporting this information under the reporting categories and using the format described in paragraph (1) as soon as each has been developed. (3) A coin dealer who engages in less than 10 transactions each week in which he or she has purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, accepted for sale or consignment, or accepted for auctioning tangible personal property, shall report the information required by this section under the reporting categories described in paragraph (1) on a form developed by the Attorney General that the coin dealer shall transmit each day by facsimile transmission or by mail to the chief of police or sheriff. A transaction shall consist of not more than one item. Nothing in this section shall prohibit up to 10 transactions with the same customer per week, provided that the cumulative total per week for all customers does not exceed 10 transactions. Until that form is developed, these coin dealers shall continue to report information required by this section using existing forms and procedures. If these transactions increase to 10 per week, the coin dealer shall electronically report using the format described in paragraph (1) the information required by this section beginning six months after his or her transactions exceed 10 per week or 12 months after the format described in paragraph (1) has been developed, whichever occurs later. (4) For purposes of this subdivision, "item" shall mean any single physical article. However, with respect to a commonly accepted grouping of articles that are purchased as a set, including, but not limited to, a pair of earrings or place settings of china, silverware, or other tableware, "item" shall mean that commonly accepted grouping. (5) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as excepting a secondhand dealer from the fingerprinting requirement of subdivision (g). SEC. 2. Section 21630 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 21630. If the transaction takes place within the territorial limits of an incorporated city, the report shall be submitted to the police chief executive of the city or his or her designee. If the transaction takes place outside the territorial limits of an incorporated city, the report shall be submitted to the sheriff of the county or his or her designee. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.