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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Benny's Pawn March 29,2006 To: Sharon Smith Deputy City Clerk City of Meridian .RECEIVED I"IAP 'J q "}1ìO6 '.,~L"LU. CITY OF MERIDIAN CITY CLERK C!=FICE From: Benny's Pawn, Inc Terry Stewart 451 N. Main Meridian, ID 83642 RE: Proposed Pawnbrokers Ordinance Amendment The following are a few points in the proposed ordinance change that I would like to address: The first of these is the idea that a large amount of stolen property is disposed of in pawnshops. In the last five years our shop has had less than 5 items per year seized by the police department. When you take into consideration the large volume of loans written in this time period, the number of stolen items is very small. As heavily as the pawn industry is regulated, the requirement of showing picture identification, filling out police reports, etc., it makes little sense to bring stolen property into our establishment. Some easier and less risky methods of disposing of stolen property are: selling items at yard sales or flea markets, selling items to individuals through the paper, selling items on job sites and other locations, selling items on Ebay, or selling items to second hand stores that are not required to fill out any reports. The next item that I would like to address is the period of time that we are required to retain precious metal purchases before we can sell them (section 3-5-5). Under the current ordinance, precious metal can be sold immediately after purchase. The volatility of the market makes it detrim~ntal to business to hold on to these items for 20 days. With the way the market fluctuates this could translate into huge losses for our business. At the same time there are coin and precious metal dealers who don't have to retain their purchases for any length oftime. For these reasons, we request that this part of the ordinance stay the same so we can be competitive with these other shops. The next point that I would like to address is the keeping of records in section 3-5-6-A-4. In the case of putting movies and music into categories I believe that doing this could be difficult if not impossible. In the quickly changing music market it is difficult to keep up with each artist. In many cases we are ignorant of the artist and which category they could fall into. Making this even more difficult is that music has moved in such a way that it is not always easy to describe which category an artist could be in. We could describe it as being rock, but some one else could call it metal, punk, or some other descriptive term. The same can be said for movies. It is difficult to tell just by looking at them what category they could fall in. For exanlple is a foreign comedy a comedy movie or a foreign movie. The description of movies can be open to interpretation as much as music can be. In the end, I'm not sure that it adds much more information than the artist and the title of the album or the name of the movie. Another concern in this section is the description of firearms. My first concern is that not all firearms have serial numbers. Prior to 1964 gun manufactures were not required by lam to put serial numbers on their guns. The same can be said for model of guns. Not all manufactures put models on the firearms they sell. From time to time we encounter these guns, and under the ordinance it appears that we would not be able to take these guns. The next concern is induding the barrel length and finish of firearm in the description. All that is really needed is the make, model, type, caliber, and serial number. This is the only information required in keeping gun logs for the A TF as part of our Federal Firearms License. The barrel length and the finish can be altered but the manufacture and the serial number will always be the same. Also the wording of make and brand in the ordinance is redundant. They are essentially the same things. The next section that I would like to address is under sections 3-5-6-A- 7 and 3-5-6-C-2. In the case of storing records via paper and electronic means, this would double the existing workload for our paper work. On top of this, paper records are less susceptible to damage or loss than electronic records. At this current time our shop is not set up to store records electronically. The cost of converting over to the hardware and software that will be required would be enormous. We have checked into converting in the past and the cost has been prohibitive. In addition to this set cost, there is a yearly subscription fee for the software. Who will be paying this cost? In the case of taking pictures or thumbprints of customer, how often do we need to make new records for repeat customers? At this time we have video surveillance of our customers for at least 2 Y2 months. Is this sufficient for your records? The next item of concern is concerning stolen property in section 3-5- 7-E. Our concern stems from the fact that if the property is returned to owner without some form of legal proceeding, then we have no mechanism to try and recoup our cost. If charges are not pressed against the offending party then we can not ask for restitution for the money that we put out, as part of any sentencing, because the offending party was not prosecuted. We understand that the person is a victim and that they shouldn't have to pay to get their belongings back, but if the item is returned to the victim without the prosecution mechanism, we become the new victim without any opportunity of legal recourse. We have always had a good relationship with the police department and work with them on the rare occasion that we receive stolen property. We are not asking to make money on this, we merely want an opportunity to recoup money that we lost due to someone else's criminal act. The next issue that I would like to address is in section 3-5-8-H. This section pertains to serials numbers that have been altered, removed or made unreadable. What ifthese numbers have been damaged in the course of everyday use? Weare dealing in used merchandise and sometimes that merchandise will have scratches and damage from honest use. Do we deny them a loan even if it appears that the damage has been done unintentionally? The last point that I would like to address is in section 3-5-9-A. It says that it is a violation for a person to provide false infonnation such as address. What if the person's address is not the same as it appears on the driver's license? You can change the address at the DMV, but they don't issue you a new license. In condusion we are just a business filling a need in this community. We loan money to individuals that need a smaller increment of money than will be loaned to them by banks. The money that we loan to individuals is spent in the community in the form of utility payments, gas, food and other necessity purchases, child support, rent, traffic fines, doctor bills, lawyers, car repair, and many other circumstances that can catch people unaware. We make a conscious effort to keep stolen property out of our establishment and will continue to work with the police in the rare occasion when it does happen. Sincerely, Terry Stewart President Benny's Pawn, Inc. J ~~\¡;S ~~1- !:> 11 V