[Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Lumberton 12-3-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-11-010. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 216.
A.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to assist law enforcement
officials and victims of crime in recovering stolen precious metals,
germs, gemstones and/or other articles by requiring minimum reporting,
maintenance and distribution criteria for secondhand and transient
dealers and commercial and retail establishments that accept trade-in
or trade-up materials.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
B.
No person shall use, exercise or carry on the business, trade or
occupation of buying scrap gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, home electronics/audio
and visual equipment, musical instruments, telephones and telephonic
equipment, scales, computers, computer hardware and software, typewriters,
word processors, scanners, sporting goods of all kinds, antiques,
platinum, all other precious metals, tools of all kinds, televisions,
DVRs, GPS, camcorders, car stereos, gift cards, furniture, clothing
or other valuable articles, hereinafter referred to as "secondhand
goods or articles," or being a secondhand dealer within the Township
of Lumberton without having first obtained a permit from the Township
of Lumberton as hereinafter provided.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings ascribed herein.
Words used in the present tense shall include the future, words in
the plural number shall include the singular number and words in the
singular number shall include the plural number. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
Acceptable forms of identification include: a current valid
New Jersey driver's license or identification card (containing a photograph
of the bearer), a current valid photo driver's license issued by another
U.S. state, a valid United States passport, or other verifiable U.S.
Government-issued identification which contains and has an affixed
photograph of the bearer.
Any article of merchandise, including any portion of such
article, whether a distinct part thereof or not, including every part
thereof whether separable or not, and also including material for
manufacture; and as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6-1.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Lumberton or his designee/representative.
A computerized internet capable database with hardware and
software compliant to that as set by the Chief of Police.
Any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity, whether
permanent or nomadic, who on one or more occasions (through any means)
buys or sells or otherwise exchanges or trades secondhand gold, silver,
precious metals, gems, or jewelry, and includes anyone advertising
the purchase or sale of any of the aforementioned items.
A person or entity who is appointed or designated by the
Chief of Police who is authorized to collect and maintain precious
metal transaction information, or other purchase information as defined
herein, for the Township of Lumberton.
A restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued
by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a nonmonetary
gift.
Any business conducted intermittently within the Township
of Lumberton or at varying locations.
Any individual natural person, partnership, joint venture,
business, society, associate, club, trustee, trust, corporation, or
unincorporated group, or an officer, agent, employee, servant, factor
or any form of personal representative of any thereof, in any capacity,
acting for self or on behalf of another.
Comprised of gold, silver, sterling, platinum and/or their
alloys as defined in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq., 51:6-1 et seq. and/or
51:6A-1 et seq.; gems, gemstones, coins and all forms of jewelry herein
contained.
Individuals and retail sellers, not to include wholesale
transactions or transactions between other merchants.
The exchange of money and the exchange, deposit, pledge,
sale, conveyance or trade of any tangible or intangible article.
Every transaction conducted by a dealer in which precious
metals, secondhand goods, or other tangible property, are purchased
or exchanged from or with the public.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
Any article previously sold, acquired, exchanged, conveyed,
traded or otherwise formerly owned, including but not limited to scrap
gold, old gold, silver, jewelry, home electronics/audio and visual
equipment, musical instruments, telephones and telephonic equipment,
scales, computers, computer hardware and software, typewriters, word
processors, scanners, sporting goods of all kinds, antiques, platinum,
all other precious metals, tools of all kinds, televisions, DVRs,
GPS, camcorders, car stereos, gift cards, furniture, clothing or other
valuable articles.
A dealer who has not been in any retail business continuously
for at least six months at that address in the municipality where
the dealer is required to register or who intends to close out or
discontinue all retail business in the Township of Lumberton within
six months; or as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6A-5 and N.J.A.C. 13:47C-1.1.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
A.
Each dealer conducting business within the jurisdiction of the Township of Lumberton shall first apply with the Township; the Clerk will in turn then turn the application over to the Police Department for investigation. The police shall fingerprint the applicant and institute such an investigation of the applicant's moral character and business responsibility as it deems necessary for the protection of the public welfare. In the event that the dealer is a business entity other than a sole proprietorship, the officers in a corporation or the partners in a partnership (or limited partnership) shall be deemed to be the applicant(s), who shall be fingerprinted and investigated in accordance with this section. Upon completion of the investigation, the Chief of Police shall either issue or deny the license based upon the results of his investigation. Upon issuance of the license, the applicant shall be given a copy of this Chapter 236. Companies with a national presence, as evidenced by business locations throughout the country, or trade of shares of that company sold on a major market index, shall be exempt from the fingerprinting and background portions of the application process. In the event that a company with a national presence rents space to a dealer who is a business entity without national presence, the dealer is still required to undergo the fingerprinting and background portions of the application process.
B.
A dealer of precious metals, gems or gemstones or secondhand goods
or a person accepting secondhand goods as trade-in or exchange shall,
prior to buying, attempting to buy, offering to buy, or accepting
trades, register with the Chief of Police, by providing the following
information on an application prescribed by the Police Department:
A.
Licenses issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked
by the Chief of Police after a hearing upon notice to the applicant
for any of the following causes:
(1)
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement contained in the application
for license;
(2)
Fraud, misrepresentation, or false statement made in the course of
carrying on the business of purchasing secondhand precious metals,
gems, and jewelry;
(3)
Any violation of this chapter;
(4)
Conviction of any crime or disorderly persons offense involving moral
turpitude; and
(5)
Conducting the business of soliciting or canvassing in an unlawful
manner or in such a manner as to constitute a breach of the peace
or to constitute a menace to the health, safety, or general welfare
of the public.
B.
Notice of the hearing for revocation of a license shall be given
in writing, setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and
the time and place of hearing. Such notice shall be mailed, postage
prepaid, to the licensee at his last known address at least five days
prior to the date set for the hearing.
Every dealer within the Township of Lumberton shall, upon the
purchase of any precious metals, or secondhand goods from the public,
be required to do as follows:
A.
Record on a numbered receipt the name, address and telephone number
of the purchaser; the name, address and telephone number of the seller
or sellers; the time and date of the transaction; the net weight in
terms of pounds Troy, pennyweight (Troy) or kilograms/grams of the
precious metals; fineness in terms of karats for gold, and sterling
or coin for silver, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and
51:6-1 et seq. This information is to be documented through use of
an electronic database software system as designated by the Chief
of Police. These records shall be subject to the inspection of any
authorized police officer of the Township of Lumberton.
B.
Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using the electronic format approved by the Chief of Police, enter all transactions into the electronic database within 48 hours from the date of purchase. The information entered will contain the information in Subsection A above, plus the following:
(1)
A physical description of the seller;
(2)
The receipt number;
(3)
A full description of the item or items purchased, including but
not limited to marks, numbers, dates, sizes, shapes, initials, monograms
and serial numbers;
(4)
The price paid for the item;
(5)
The form must be signed by the seller;
(6)
The form must be legibly initialed by the clerk or the dealer who
made the transaction so as to readily identify that individual;
(7)
A color photograph or color image of the seller's presented identification;
(8)
A color photograph or color image of all items sold. When photographing
or imaging all items must be positioned in a manner that makes them
readily and easily identifiable.
C.
The precious metals or secondhand goods are to be made available
for inspection by the Chief of Police/police representative of the
Township of Lumberton for a period of three days from the date the
information required above is received by the Chief of Police on the
approved form. The precious metals shall remain in the same condition
as when purchased and shall not be changed, modified, melted or disposed
of by the purchaser until the three-day period has expired. During
this three-day period, the precious metals shall be placed in public
view at the purchaser's place of business. If the property is
such that it would create a hardship on the dealer by holding the
precious metals for such period, the dealer may present the property
to the Chief of Police in order that it may be photographed and, if
deemed necessary by the Chief of Police, an investigation be implemented.
The Chief of Police has the authority to grant the dealer a waiver
of the requirement under this section.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
D.
In the event of a database failure, or dealer's computer equipment
malfunction, all transaction information is required to be submitted
on paper forms approved by the Chief of Police. In the event that
paper forms are used, the dealer is responsible to enter all transaction
information into the database as soon as possible upon the dealer's
equipment being repaired or replaced, or the database coming back
into service. Failure by the dealer to properly maintain computer
equipment in a reasonable fashion, or failure by the dealer to replace
faulty computer equipment, may result in the dealer being cited for
a violation of the chapter and subsequently being subject to the penalties
for doing so.
E.
Dealer payment to sellers in cash shall be limited to two transactions
during a seven-day period for the same seller. The seven-day period
will commence on the day of the first transaction and end seven days
after the transaction, i.e., if transaction No. 1 occurs on Monday,
the seven-day period ends on Sunday. Furthermore, no cash payments
shall be made to the same sellers who make more than five transactions
in any given thirty-day period. Sellers making transactions over the
number of prescribed weekly and monthly periods will be paid by the
dealer by means of a bank check drawn from the dealer's business account.
F.
It shall be the requisite duty of every dealer, and of every person
in the dealer's employ, to admit to the premises during business hours
any member of the Lumberton Police Department to examine any database,
book, ledger, or any other record on the premises relating to the
purchase of precious metals from the public, as well as the articles
purchased or received, and to take possession of any article known
by the police officer or official to be missing or to have been stolen,
or where the officer or official has probable cause to believe the
article is missing or stolen.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
This chapter shall not apply to purchases made by jewelers or
other dealers from wholesalers or other suppliers, but shall only
apply to those purchases made from the public or other retail purchases.
The dealer shall keep records of all wholesale purchases for a period
of six months from the date of such purchase, which records shall
be opened to investigation by the Lumberton Township Police Department.
This chapter shall not apply to car dealerships, as law enforcement
can use vehicle identification numbers to track the purchase and sale
of vehicles.
[Amended 2-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
No dealer within the Township of Lumberton shall purchase any
precious metals or trade-in merchandise from any person under the
age of 18 years.
[Amended 12-5-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-19]
Any person, firm, corporation, association or legal party whatsoever who shall violate, or authorize or procure a violation, or cause to be violated, any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable as provided under § 1-11 governing general penalty provisions. If the state requires, limits or expands potential minimum or maximum penalties in contradiction to this chapter, state law shall apply.
