Hawaii Secondhand Dealers

Hawai‘i Revised Statutes Annotated
Division 2. Business
Title 26. Trade Regulation and Practice
Chapter 486M. Pawnbrokers and Secondhand Dealers

 § 486M-1. Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
“Article” means any previously owned good or chattel, including, but not limited to, precious or semiprecious metals or precious or semiprecious gems.
 “Dealer” means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity who engages in a business which includes the buying of previously owned [articles], and includes any pawnbroker or secondhand dealer.
“Government issued identification” means:
(1) A passport issued by the United States of America;
(2) A [driver's] license issued pursuant to any state or District of Columbia law;
(3) An identification card issued by any state or local government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or
(4) An identification card issued by any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.
“Pawnbroker” means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity who advances for interest or for or in expectation of profit, gain, or reward any sum of money upon security of any goods or chattels taken by such person by way of pawn or pledge, and includes any person subject to part V of chapter 445.
“Precious or semiprecious gem” means any of the less common and more valuable stones and pearls, including but not limited to amethyst, diamond, emerald, jade, opal, ruby, sapphire, topaz, turquoise, and zircon, whether natural or synthetic, cut or polished.
“Precious or semiprecious metal” means any of the less common and more valuable metals, including but not limited to gold, silver, platinum, and alloys thereof, without regard to their fineness, but excludes bullion and bullion type coins and bars.
“Secondhand dealer” means any person who trades in secondhand or previously owned articles, and includes any person subject to part VII of chapter 445.

§ 486M-2. Record of transactions

Every dealer, or the agent, employee, or representative of the dealer shall, immediately upon receipt of any article, record the following information, on a form authorized by the chief of police in each county:
(1) The name and address of the dealer;
(2) The name, residence address, date of birth, and the age of the person from whom the article was received;
(3) The date and time the article was received by the dealer;
(4) The signature of the person from whom the article was received;
(5) The Hawaii [driver's] license number, or if the person does not possess a Hawaii [driver's] license, the number of and description of any government issued identification which bears a photograph of the person from whom the article was received;
(6) A complete and accurate description of the article received, including all markings, names, initials, and inscriptions;
(7) A reasonable estimate of the fineness and weights of the precious and semiprecious metals and precious and semiprecious gems received; and
(8) The price paid by the dealer for each article.
Upon request and at the discretion of the chief of police of each county, copies of all completed forms required by this section shall be surrendered, mailed, or electronically inputted and transmitted via modem or by facsimile transmittal to the chief of police or to the chief of police's authorized representative. The method of submittal to the chief of police shall be at the option of the dealer.

§ 486M-3. Transactions by minors prohibited

A dealer shall not receive or purchase any article from any person under the age of eighteen.

§ 486M-4. Minimum retention of items
 
(a) No dealer, the dealer's agents, employees, or representatives shall alter, melt, deface, break apart, dispose of, or change the character or integrity of the precious or semiprecious metals or precious or semiprecious gems received or purchased for a period of fifteen calendar days in counties with a population of less than 300,000, and thirty calendar days in counties with a population of 300,000 or more after the purchase or possession by the dealer, whichever comes later. Every article received by the dealer, the dealer's agents, employees, or representatives shall be retained by the dealer in the county where received or purchased for a period of fifteen calendar days in counties with a population of less than 300,000, and thirty calendar days in counties with a population of 300,000 or more after the purchase or possession by the dealer, whichever comes later.
(b) At the discretion of the chief of police of each county, the holding period may be reduced to fifteen calendar days; provided that the dealer has computerized record-keeping and transmittal capabilities acceptable to the chief of police or the chief of police's authorized representative.

§ 486M-5. Inspections

The chief of police of each county or the chief of police's authorized representative may immediately inspect, during normal business hours or whenever the dealer or the dealer's agents or employees are otherwise present, any records required by this chapter and any articles described in such records that the police reasonably believe are stolen goods.

§ 486M-6. Applicability

Any dealer who is otherwise licensed shall comply with the provisions of this chapter as a condition of the dealer's license except as to those statutory conditions of the license which are more restrictive.

§ 486M-7. Penalties

Any dealer, or any agent, employee, or representative of a dealer who knowingly violates any of the provisions of sections 486M-2,486M-3, 486M-4, or who refuses to allow the inspection provided for in section 486M-5, and any person who offers or records information which is required under section 486M-2 that the person knows or has reason to know is false, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any dealer, or any agent, employee or representative of a dealer who is convicted for a second violation of any provision of this chapter shall, in addition to the foregoing penalty, be permanently prohibited from engaging in the business of buying or selling of precious or semiprecious metals or precious or semiprecious gems or any article.

§ 486M-8. Severability

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.

Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 486M1-8