The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 9: Commerce and Trade

Chapter 097: Pawnbrokers

• § 3861. Pawnbroker defined

  The word “pawnbroker” as used in this chapter includes any person, partnership, or corporation, loaning money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than securities or written evidences of indebtedness; or doing business as furniture storage warehousepersons, and loaning and advancing money upon goods, wares, or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral security.

• § 3862. License required

  (a) A person shall not carry on the business of pawnbroker unless he or she has obtained a license so to do as provided in this section.

  (b) The selectboard members of a town or the aldermen of a city may grant to such citizens as they deem proper, and who produce satisfactory evidence of their good character, a license authorizing such citizens to carry on the business of a pawnbroker. Such license shall designate the place in which such a person shall carry on such business, and such a person shall not carry on such business in any other place than the one designated in such license.

  (c) A person who violates a provision of this section shall be fined $10.00 for each day of such violation. (Amended 2021, No. 20, § 32.)

• § 3863. Fees; bond; revocation of license

  A person receiving such license shall pay therefor the sum of $15.00 annually for the use of the town. Such license shall expire one year from the date thereof, and may be renewed on payment of the same sum. At the time of receiving such license, a licensee shall file a bond to the selectboard members or aldermen of such town or city, to be executed by the person so licensed, and by two responsible sureties or a bonding company in the penal sum of $500.00, which bond shall be conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties and obligations pertaining to the business so licensed, and the selectboard members or aldermen may revoke such license for cause.

• § 3864. Action on bond

  If a person is aggrieved by the misconduct of such licensed pawnbroker, and recovers judgment against him or her therefor, after the return, unsatisfied, either in whole or in part, of an execution issued upon such judgment, such person may maintain an action in his or her own name upon the bond of such pawnbroker, provided the court, upon application made for that purpose, shall grant such leave to prosecute.

• § 3865. Records of a pawnbroker

  (a) In each year a pawnbroker makes loans or advances totaling over $2,500.00 for items pledged or deposited with the pawnbroker, he or she shall maintain the following records for each transaction in that year:

  (1) a legible statement written at the time of the transaction stating the amount of money lent or advanced for the items, the time of the transaction, and the rate of interest to be paid, as applicable;

  (2) a legible statement of the name, current address, telephone number, and vehicle license number of the person pledging or depositing the items;

  (3) a legible written description and photograph, or alternatively a video, of the items;

  (4) a photocopy of a government-issued identification card issued to the person pledging or depositing the items, if available.

  (b) At all reasonable times, the records required under subsection (a) of this section shall be open to the inspection of law enforcement. A law enforcement agency shall make a reasonable effort to notify a pawnbroker before conducting an inspection pursuant to this section unless providing notice would interfere with a criminal investigation or any other legitimate law enforcement purpose.

  (c) [Repealed.] (Amended 2011, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. May 18, 2012; 2013, No. 75, § 22a; eff. June 5, 2013; 2013, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2015.)

• § 3866. Issuance of pawn ticket; lost tickets

  At the time of making a loan, a pawnbroker shall deliver to the person pawning or pledging any goods, articles, or things a memorandum or note signed by him or her containing the substance of the entry required to be made in his or her book by section 3865 of this title, and a charge shall not be made or received by the pawnbroker for such entry, memorandum, or note. The holder of such memorandum or note shall be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge, and the pawnbroker shall deliver such article to the person so presenting such memorandum or note on payment of principal and interest. Should such ticket be lost or mislaid, the pawnor shall at once apply to the pawnbroker describing the article pawned, in which case it shall be the duty of the pawnbroker to permit such person to examine his or her books, and, on finding the entry for such ticket, note, or memorandum so lost, the pawnbroker shall issue a second or stop ticket for the same. In case such pawnor neglects so to apply and examine such books and receive such memorandum or note in the manner provided in this section, the pawnbroker shall deliver the pledge to any person producing such original ticket for the redemption thereof. This section shall not be so construed as to limit or affect such pawnbroker’s common law liability in cases where goods are stolen or other legal defects of title in the pledgor exist. (Amended 2021, No. 20, § 33.)

• § 3867. Rate of interest on loans

  A pawnbroker shall not demand or receive a greater rate of interest than five percent per month or fraction of a month upon a loan not exceeding the sum of $50.00, nor more than three percent per month upon a loan exceeding the sum of $50.00; provided a charge of less than $0.15 shall not be made on any loan or pledge.

• § 3868. Sale of pawned property

  A pawnbroker shall not sell pawned or pledged property until the same has remained six months in his or her possession without redemption, and upon such sale, shall keep a record of the date of such sale, the name and address of the purchaser, and the price paid, and such record shall be subject to inspection as other records of such pawnbroker.

• § 3869. Application of proceeds of sale

  Surplus money, if any, arising from such sale, after deducting the amount of the loan and the interest then due on the same, shall be paid over after three months by the pawnbroker to the person who would be entitled to redeem the pledge in case such sale had not taken place.

• § 3870. Pawning property of persons under eighteen

  A person carrying on the business of pawnbroker in this State shall not accept a pledge or article of personal property offered by a person under 18 years of age without written authority of the parents or guardians of such minor.

• § 3871. Penalties

  (a) A licensee who violates a provision of sections 3863-3864 or 3866-3870 of this title shall be fined not more than $100.00 nor less than $10.00 for each offense.

  (b) A pawnbroker or precious metal dealer who violates a provision of section 3865 or 3872 of this chapter:

  (1) may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 for a first violation; and

  (2) shall be fined not more than $25,000.00 for a second or subsequent violation. (Amended 2013, No. 75, § 22a, eff. June 5, 2013.)

• § 3872. Repealed. 2013, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. January 1, 2015.