[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Paramus 6-10-1980 by Ord. No. 80-15. Amended 11-24-1992 by Ord. No. 92-23; 3-14-2006 by Ord. No. 06-2; 5-27-2008 by Ord. No. 08-21. Amended in entirety 2-9-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-04; Amended in entirety 4-19-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-14. Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to assist law enforcement
officials and victims of crime in recovering stolen precious materials,
gems, gemstones and/or other articles by requiring minimum reporting,
maintenance and distribution criteria for secondhand and transient
dealers.
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 Borough of Paramus without having first obtained a license
from the Borough of Paramus.
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 which include: a current
valid New Jersey Driver's License or Identification Card, a current
valid photo driver's license issued by another US state, a valid United
States Passport, or other verifiable US government issued identification.
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.
An interactive device that is permanently installed within
a secure retail space and has technical functions that can remotely
monitor the kiosk, verify the seller's identification, and store goods
securely.
The Chief of Police of the Borough of Paramus or his designee/representative.
A computerized interne capable database with hardware and
software compliant to that set by the Chief of Police.
Any person, partnership, corporation, or other entity, whether
permanent or itinerant, 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 that 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 Borough of Paramus.
A restricted monetary equivalent or script that is issued
by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a non-monetary
gift.
Any business conducted intermittently within the Borough
of Paramus 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.
Be comprised of gold, silver, platinum and/or their alloys
as defined in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq., and/or
N.J.S.A. 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, or other tangible property, are purchased or exchanged from
or with the public.
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, telephones and telephonic equipment, scales, computers,
computer hardware and software, coins, electronic tablets, cameras,
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 (6) months at any address in the municipality where
the dealer is required to register or who intends to close out or
discontinue all retail business in the Borough of Paramus within six
(6) months. Or as so defined in N.J.S.A. 51:6A-5 and N.J.A.C. 13:47C-1.1.
A.
Initial License Application Process. Every dealer intending on conducting
business with the jurisdiction of the Borough of Paramus shall first
make application to the Municipal Clerk and shall set forth the name
and address of dealer, his or her age, whether or not he or she is
a citizen of the United States and whether or not he or she has been
convicted of a crime, the place of conviction, and the date thereof.
A dealer of precious metals, gems or gemstones or secondhand
goods shall, prior to buying, attempting to buy or offering to buy
shall be required to be fingerprinted and shall consent to an investigation
of the applicant's moral character and business responsibility as
deemed necessary, by the Paramus Police Department 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 initial application to the Municipal Clerk, each dealer
shall be provided with an application prescribed by the Paramus Police
Department and shall provide the following information on said application:
B.
Contingency. Upon completion of the investigation, the Chief of Police
shall either approve or deny the license based upon the results of
the Paramus Police Department investigation. No license shall be issued
without the approval of the Chief of Police or his or her designee.
C.
Renewal. All renewal applications are to be received in the Clerk's
office no later than January 10th of each year. In the event that
the dealer is a business entity other than a sole proprietorship,
if the business entity took on a new officer(s) or partner(s) within
the preceding year, the new officer(s) / partner(s) shall be deemed
to be the applicant(s) who shall be fingerprinted and investigated
in accordance with subsection A., Initial License Application Process.
In the event a dealer fails to file a renewal application by
January 31" of each year, the applicant will be assessed a fifty ($50.00)
dollar penalty.
In the event a dealer fails to file a renewal application after January 31 and after receiving notice by the Paramus Police Department and given 10 business days to file such renewal application, the dealer license may be revoked following the process as outlined in Section 359-5 of this chapter.
A.
Each application for a dealer of secondhand goods license shall be
accompanied by an annual fee of three hundred ($300.00) dollars payable
to the Municipal Clerk by January 10th annually.
B.
A license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall not be
transferable and shall terminate on December 31st of the year in which
said license is issued.
C.
No license fee shall be pro-rated.
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 section;
(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 (5)
days prior to the date set for the hearing.
Every dealer within the Borough of Paramus 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
N.J.S.A. 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 sworn police officer of the State of New Jersey.
B.
Through the use of applicably required computer equipment, and using the electronic format approved by the Chief of Police, enter all transaction into the electronic database within twenty-four (24) 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.
All precious metals, articles and secondhand goods are to be made
available for inspection by the Chief of Police of the Borough of
Paramus for a period of fourteen (14) 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 fourteen-day period has expired. During
this fourteen-day period, the precious metals shall be placed in public
view at the purchaser's place of business.
D.
In the event 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 the sellers in cash shall be limited to two (2)
transactions during a seven (7) day period for the same seller. The
seven (7) day period will commence on the day of the first transaction
and end seven (7) days after the transaction, i.e. if transaction
#1 occurs on Monday the seven (7) day period ends on Sunday. Furthermore,
no cash payments shall be made to the same sellers who make more than
five (5) transactions in any given thirty (30) 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 sworn police officer of the State of New Jersey 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.
A.
This section 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 5 years from the date of such purchase, which records shall be
opened to investigation by the Paramus Police Department.
B.
Section 359-6 shall not apply to purchases made by automated kiosks. The automated kiosks shall keep records of all purchases for a period of five (5) years from the date of such purchase, which records shall be opened to investigation by the Paramus Police Department. This information is to be documented through the use of an electronic database software system as designated by the Chief of Police. These records shall be subject to the inspection of any sworn police officer of the State of New Jersey. All other sections of this chapter shall apply to automated kiosks.
C.
This section shall not apply to the acceptance of merchandise in
a used condition as an exchange or return for store credit or refund,
if such merchandise was originally purchased as new merchandise from
the person or business accepting the same.
[Added 9-14-2021 by Ord.
No. 2021-39]
D.
This section shall not apply to the first retail sale of merchandise
which has been accepted in a used condition and has been either refurbished
or is being sold "as-is" by the original manufacturer or the original
licensed vendor.
[Added 9-14-2021 by Ord.
No. 2021-39]
No dealer within the Borough of Paramus shall purchase any precious
metals from any person under the age of eighteen (18) years.
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punished by a fine of five hundred ($500.00) dollars for
a first offense, one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars for a second offense,
and three thousand ($3,000.00) dollars for a third offense or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days or by a period of community
service not exceeding ninety (90) days. Each and every violation shall
be considered a separate violation. Every day that a violation continues
shall be a separate violation. Each violation shall result in an additional
ten (10) day suspension. Any person who is convicted of violating
the provisions of this chapter within one year of the date of a previous
violation and who was fined for the previous violation may be sentenced
by the Court to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional
fine imposed as a repeat offender shall not be less than the minimum
or exceed the maximum fine provided herein, and same shall be calculated
separately from the fine imposed for the violation of this section.
