BILL NUMBER: AB 1182 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Santiago
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and Cooley)
( Coauthor: Senator
Pan Coauthors: Senators Pan
and Stone )
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section Sections
21627 and 21628 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to secondhand goods.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1182, as amended, Santiago. Secondhand goods: tangible personal
property.
Existing law requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers to,
among other things, report certain secondhand tangible personal
property taken in trade or pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or
accepted for auctioning, to the chief of police or to the sheriff,
as specified. Existing law defines "tangible personal property" for
those purposes as including secondhand tangible personal property
that bears or bears evidence of having had a serial number or
personalized initials and new or used tangible personal property that
is received as security for a loan by a pawnbroker or is commonly
sold by secondhand dealers and part of a significant class of stolen
goods. Existing law requires the Attorney General to supply to local
law enforcement agencies and periodically update
review a list of that personal property commonly sold by
secondhand dealers and part of which
statistically is found through crime reports to the Attorney General
to constitute a significant class of stolen goods.
This bill would require the Attorney General to update that list
annually and post the list on his or her Internet Web site.
The bill would allow a county law enforcement agency to use its own
list, as described, until the Attorney General provides the first
annual updated list. The bill would instead specify that
"tangible personal property" means secondhand tangible personal
property that bears or bears evidence of having had a serial number
or personalized initials and initials,
new or used tangible personal property that is received as security
for a loan by a pawnbroker or is commonly sold by secondhand
dealers and part of pawnbroker, or all tangible
personal property that the Attorney General statistically determines
through the most recent Department of Justice "Crime in California"
report to constitute a significant class of stolen
goods. goods, as defined.
This bill would require the secondhand dealer to verify the
identification of the seller or pledger for each transaction.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 21627 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
21627. (a) As used in this article, "tangible personal property"
means all secondhand tangible personal property which bears a serial
number or personalized initials or inscription or which, at the time
it is acquired by the secondhand dealer, bears evidence of having had
a serial number or personalized initials or inscription.
(b) "Tangible personal property" also means the following:
(1) All tangible personal property, new or used, including motor
vehicles, received in pledge as security for a loan by a pawnbroker.
(2) All tangible personal property that bears a serial number or
personalized initials or inscription which is purchased by a
secondhand dealer or a pawnbroker or which, at the time of such
purchase, bears evidence of having had a serial number or
personalized initials or inscription.
(3) (A) All
All tangible personal property commonly
sold by secondhand dealers which statistically is found through
crime reports to the Attorney General that the
Attorney General statistically determines through the most recent
Department of Justice "Crime in California" report
to constitute a significant class of stolen goods. A list of such
personal property shall be supplied by the Attorney General to all
local law enforcement agencies and posted on the Attorney General's
Internet Web site. Such list shall be updated annually by the
Attorney General to insure General, beginning
January 1, 2016, to ensure that it addresses current problems
with stolen goods.
(B) A county law enforcement agency may use its own list of
personal property commonly sold by secondhand dealers which
statistically is found through crime reports to the county law
enforcement agency to constitute a significant class of stolen goods
until the Attorney General provides the first annual update of the
list of personal property.
(c) As used in this article, "tangible personal property" does not
include any new goods or merchandise purchased from a bona fide
manufacturer or distributor or wholesaler of such new goods or
merchandise by a secondhand dealer. For the purposes of this article,
however, a secondhand dealer shall retain for one year from the date
of purchase, and shall make available for inspection by any law
enforcement officer, any receipt, invoice, bill of sale or other
evidence of purchase of such new goods or merchandise.
(d) As used in this article, "tangible personal property" does not
include coins, monetized bullion, or commercial grade ingots of
gold, silver, or other precious metals. "Commercial grade ingots"
means 0.99 fine or finer ingots of gold, silver, palladium, or
platinum, or 0.925 fine sterling silver art bars and medallions,
provided that the ingots, art bars, and medallions are marked by the
refiner or fabricator as to their assay fineness.
(e) For purposes of this article, a "significant class of stolen
goods" means those items determined through the Department of Justice'
s annual "Crime in California" report to constitute more than 10
percent of property reported stolen in the calendar year preceding
the annual posting of the list of significant classes of stolen
goods.
SEC. 2. Section 21628 of the Business
and Professions Code is amende d 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 secondhand tangible personal property, on
forms or through an electronic reporting system approved by the
Department of Justice, all secondhand tangible personal property,
except for firearms, 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).
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 pledger
of the property.
(b) The identification of the intended seller or pledger. The
identification of the seller or pledger 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, and,
where applicable, 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.
(6) A Matricula Consular 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 pledger 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 pledger that to his
or her knowledge and belief the information is true and complete.
(g) A legible fingerprint taken from the intended seller or
pledger, as prescribed by the Department of Justice. This requirement
does not apply to a coin dealer, unless required pursuant to local
regulation.
(h) (1) 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 pledger 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.
(2) 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 478.100 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, as detailed in this section, 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. Except as
otherwise provided in this section, any report required of a
secondhand dealer shall be transmitted by electronic means. With the
consultation by the Department of Justice with local law enforcement
agencies and representatives from the secondhand dealer businesses,
pursuant to Resolution Chapter 16 of the Statutes of 2010, and upon
the availability of sufficient funds in the Secondhand Dealer and
Pawnbroker Fund created pursuant to Section 21642.5, the department
shall promptly develop a single, statewide, uniform electronic
reporting system to be used to transmit these secondhand dealer
reports.
(2) (A) Until the date that the Department of Justice implements
the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system described
in paragraph (1), each secondhand dealer may continue to report the
information required by this section under the reporting categories
described in paragraph (1) in paper format on forms approved of or
provided by the Department of Justice.
(B) On and after the date that the Department of Justice
implements the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system
described in paragraph (1), each secondhand dealer shall
electronically report using that system the information required by
this section under the reporting categories described in paragraph
(1), except that for the first 30 days following the implementation
date, each secondhand dealer shall also report the information in
paper format as described in subparagraph (A).
(3) A coin dealer 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.
(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).
(k) Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt a person
licensed as a firearms dealer pursuant to Sections 26700 to 26915,
inclusive, of the Penal Code from the reporting requirements for the
delivery of firearms pursuant to Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive,
of the Penal Code.
(l) The secondhand dealer shall verify the identification of the
seller or pledger for each transaction, not for each item that must
be reported.