[HISTORY: Adopted by the Rockland County
Legislature 11-5-1980 by L.L. No. 10-1980. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
It is hereby declared and found that, because
of the increase of incidents of property theft, the increase of the
price of precious metals and gems, the ease with which some secondhand
dealers buy and sell precious metals or gems without requiring identification
or proof of ownership, these secondhand precious metal or gem dealers
represent to persons involved in crime an opportunity to dispose of
stolen property. For business enterprises to be allowed to continue
to operate without laws to control and regulate the purchase of such
articles not only jeopardizes the property rights of many people but
also extremely hampers the police agencies in their efforts to recover
stolen property and identify suspects. If the law enforcement agencies
are to function in this area, a local law regulating secondhand precious
metal or gem dealers is necessary. Thereby, the public health, morals
and general welfare of the County of Rockland will be protected and
promoted and the best interest of the people would be served by the
control and regulation of secondhand precious metal or gem dealers.
It is the intention of the Legislature of Rockland County that this
chapter, amending Local Law No. 9-1980; shall constitute the complete
law in relation to the control and regulation of secondhand precious
metal or gem dealers for the County of Rockland and shall therefore
supersede the provisions of Local Law No. 9-1980.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meanings of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
A person who, in any way, as principal, broker or agent of
a business which buys from the public at retail, deals in the purchase
from the public of gold, silver, platinum or gems; deals in the purchase
from the public of any secondhand manufactured articles composed wholly
or in part of gold, silver, platinum or gems; or deals in the purchase
from the public of articles composed wholly or in part of precious
metals for the purpose of melting or refining. Notwithstanding any
other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, the purchase of
precious metals or gems from the public incidental to the resetting,
restyling or remanufacturing of jewelry for the owner shall be excluded
from the application of this chapter.
The Director of Consumer Protection or his/her designee.
[Added 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
Articles composed wholly or in part of the following: emerald,
diamond, ruby, sapphire, black opal, ruby spinel, citrine, demantoid,
bloodstone, jasper, pearl, aquamarine, beryl, topaz, garnet, chrysolite,
fire opal, moonstone, rose quartz, tourmaline, carnelian, peridot,
sardonyx, zircon, morganite, chrysoprase, kunzite, cat's eye, amethyst,
chalcedony, onyx, agate, alexandrite, star sapphire, lapis lazuli,
harlequin opal, turquoise, jade or any other item composed wholly
or in part of any gem or stone whose value is in excess of $100.
Includes natural persons, corporations, partnerships, associations,
joint-stock companies and all other entities of any kind capable of
being used.
Articles composed wholly or in part of gold, silver or platinum.
A.
No person shall, within the County of Rockland, establish,
engage in or carry on, directly or indirectly, the business of dealing
in secondhand precious metals or gems, either separately or in connection
with some other business, without first having obtained and having
in full force and effect a license as provided herein.
B.
Such license shall be displayed in a conspicuous place
at the designated place of business of the licensee.
[Amended 9-4-1990 by L.L. No. 9-1990; 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
A.
Every person desiring to procure a license shall file
with the Director an application supplied by the Director, containing
the following information:
(1)
The name and description of the applicant in the form
and manner as set forth in the rules and regulations.
(2)
The address of the applicant, local and legal.
(3)
That the applicant is of legal age.
(4)
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has,
within the past 10 years, been convicted of any crime or violation
of any municipal ordinance, the nature of the offense and the punishment
or penalty assessed therefor and such other facts or evidence as is
deemed necessary to establish that the applicant is a person fit and
capable of properly conducting the activity or business for which
the license is sought.
(5)
A description of the exact type of business that the
applicant intends to conduct.
(6)
The name and address of the owner or owners of the
business premises and the nature of the right of occupancy of the
applicant to the use of said premises.
(7)
Two photographs of the applicant, taken not more than
60 days prior to the filing of the application, which photographs
shall be two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders
of the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner. If the applicant
is a partnership, photographs and fingerprints as provided herein
are required for each partner. If the applicant is a corporation,
all officers shall be photographed and fingerprinted as provided herein.
(8)
A corporate applicant shall furnish the name, address
and title of an officer of the corporation or designated agent of
service upon whom process or other legal notice may be served.
(9)
A copy of the applicant's fingerprints shall
be provided as set forth in the rules and regulations.
B.
Such application for a secondhand precious metal or
gem dealer's license shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable
filing fee in the amount as set forth under the rules and regulations
adopted pursuant to this chapter and a bond or other surety to the
County of Rockland in the sum of $2,000, conditioned on the due observance
during the term of the license of any of the laws relating to such
dealers.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
A.
Upon receipt of the license application and the payment of the filing
fee and bonds required of the applicant, the Director shall prepare
and deliver to the applicant his license.
B.
The Director shall keep a record of all licenses issued, as well
as any matters herein described.
C.
No license shall be granted under this chapter to
any dealer in secondhand precious metals or gems:
(1)
Who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
within the last 10 years, except for any misdemeanor under the Vehicle
and Traffic Law of this state.
(2)
Who has been found, within the last 10 years, by any
court of the state to have practiced a civil fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
in the conduct of such secondhand precious metal or gem dealers' business
unless the Sealer shall decide, in any particular case, upon the facts
there presented, that it is proper to issue the license applied for.
(4)
Whose license has been suspended under this chapter
and the period of such suspension has not expired at the time of the
application for the license.
D.
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the
contrary, the Director, in his/her discretion, may grant a license
as provided herein to any applicant who has been convicted of a crime
within the last 10 years, upon the finding by the Director that said
applicant is of good moral character and has demonstrated reliability
and trustworthiness in finance and commercial transactions and would
not compromise or jeopardize the public in the transaction of secondhand
precious metal or gem business.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
Every license shall expire on the 30th day of November next after its issuance. Every license may be renewed as of the first day of December, upon payment of the required fee as set forth in the rules and regulations and filing a renewal application with the Director, certifying that no changes have occurred with respect to any of the facts or information required or supplied on the original application, or, if there have been any changes, the applicant shall furnish the facts and information relating to such changes and shall comply with the requirements of § 340-3 hereof with respect thereto.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
No license under the provisions of this chapter
shall be transferred or assigned to any person or used by any person
other than the licensee to whom it was issued, his agents, employees
or duly authorized representatives, said agents, employees or duly
authorized representatives having been approved by the Director.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
A.
Suspension or revocation.
(1)
Any license granted under this chapter may be suspended for a specific
time not to exceed one year or revoked for cause, after a hearing
before a hearing officer appointed by the County Executive of Rockland
County. The determination as to suspension or revocation shall be
made by said hearing officer. Any such hearing shall be held after
reasonable written notice by the Director to the licensee of the charges,
and the licensee shall have the right to counsel and to present evidence.
Whenever any license shall be revoked or suspended, no refund of unearned
portion of the license fee shall be made.
(2)
A license to conduct, operate, engage in and transact secondhand
precious metals and gems may be suspended or revoked by the hearing
officer for any one or more of the following causes:
(a)
Fraud, misrepresentation or bribery in securing a license.
(b)
The making of any false statement as to a material matter in
any application for a license or in any proceeding with respect to
the suspension or revocation of a license, or a response to any order,
demand, or inquiry made by the hearing officer or by the Director
with respect to a license or with respect to any transaction taken
pursuant to this chapter.
(c)
The person or the management personnel of the licensee are untrustworthy
or not of good moral character.
(d)
Failure to display the license as provided in this chapter.
(e)
Violation of any provision of this chapter or of any rule or
regulation adopted hereunder.
B.
Appeals.
(1)
Any person aggrieved by the action of a hearing officer
in suspending or revoking a license or the Director in refusing to
grant a license or the making of any other decision or determination
may take an appeal therefrom to the Legislature of Rockland County
within 30 days after said decision or determination has been made.
Such appeal shall be taken by filing, with the Clerk to the Legislature,
a notice of appeal specifying the grounds therefor and the person
from whom the appeal is being taken.
(2)
The Clerk to the Legislature shall forthwith forward
to the Legislature the notice of appeal and shall direct the person
whose decision or determination is being appealed from to forthwith
transmit to the Legislature all the papers constituting the record
upon which the action appealed from was taken.
(3)
The Chairman of the Legislature shall designate three
Legislators to hear appeals.
(4)
A time shall be fixed for the hearing of the appeals
and the notice of the hearing shall be mailed to the appellant and
the person whose decision or determination is being appealed at least
five days before the hearing date.
(5)
Upon the hearing, any party may appear in person or
by his attorney.
(6)
The three Legislators designated to hear appeals may
reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision, determination
or action appealed from and shall make such decision or determination
as, in their sole opinion, ought to be made in the premises and to
that end shall have the powers of the person from which the appeal
is taken.
(7)
Any person or persons aggrieved by any determination
made upon an appeal may apply to the Supreme Court of the State of
New York for a review by a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil
Practice Laws and Rules, provided that the proceeding is commenced
within 30 days after the filing of the decision in the office of the
Clerk to the Legislature.
[Amended 7-14-1981 by L.L. No. 6-1981; 6-15-1999 by L.L. No.
5-1999]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any dealer of secondhand precious metals
or gems to engage in buying activities in any place within Rockland
County other than the place of business designated in such license,
except to meet with a customer at his home, bank or suitable place
of business. A dealer in secondhand precious metals or gems may, upon
application to the Director and receiving approval of the Director,
extend his license to cover other locations, such as flea markets,
fairs, bazaars or religious or charitable organization functions.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
B.
It shall be unlawful for any dealer of secondhand
precious metals or gems to purchase any secondhand precious metals
or gems from any person whom he knows to be, or has reason to believe
to be, under the age of 18 years.
C.
It shall be unlawful for a secondhand precious metal
or gem dealer to purchase secondhand precious metals or gems from
any person between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
D.
It shall be unlawful for any dealer in secondhand precious metals
or gems to sell or dispose of any secondhand precious metals or gems
until the expiration of 20 days after the acquisition by such dealer
of said precious metals or gems.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
E.
It shall be unlawful for a secondhand precious metal
or gem dealer to continue to carry on business after his license is
suspended, revoked or has expired and has not been renewed.
F.
It shall be unlawful to cause, allow or approve of
the blockage, obstruction or concealment from the view of the consumer
any scale, machine, weighing device or part thereof used to weigh
or calculate the value of precious metals or gems.
G.
It shall be unlawful for any dealer of secondhand precious metals or gems to damage, destroy, alter or in any way change or direct or request anyone else to alter or change the structure or makeup of a precious metal or gem so as to make it unidentifiable within 20 days after the acquisition by said dealers of such precious metal or gem. In the event that said precious metal or gem dealer damages, destroys, alters or in any way changes the precious metal or gem, the secondhand precious metal or gem dealer shall restore the precious metal or gem to its original condition as possible, provided that the secondhand precious metal or gem dealer receives a written request to do so from the owner of said item and law enforcement agency within the time limits set forth in this Subsection G and § 340-11 of this chapter, whichever is longer.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
The daily price upon which the dealer bases his quotation for
gold and silver shall be clearly displayed in Arabic numbers in the
manner as set forth in the rules and regulations.
[Amended 7-14-1981 by L.L. No. 6-1981]
If any articles composed wholly or in part of
precious metals or gems shall be advertised in any newspaper printed
in the County of Rockland or reported by any law enforcement agency
as having been lost or stolen, and if any articles answering such
description or any part thereof shall be or come into the possession
of any licensed dealer, such dealer, upon receiving actual written
or oral notice of the similarity of description of such articles,
shall immediately give information relating thereto to the appropriate
law enforcement agency. No disposition of such articles shall be effected
until authorization to do so shall be given to such dealer by said
law enforcement agency. The failure of the law enforcement agency
within 30 days to give the dealer further written notice that the
articles are actually lost or are believed to be stolen and are needed
in connection with a pending investigation or prosecution shall constitute
authorization to dispose of said articles.
[Amended 10-18-1983 by L.L. No. 17-1983; 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
A.
Every dealer in secondhand precious metals or gems by the close of the business day shall keep an electronic record in the form as set forth in the rules and regulations or a written record in duplicate and on a form prescribed by the Director of consecutively numbered transactions, legibly written in English, which shall contain a complete, thorough description of every secondhand precious metal or gem article so purchased, utilizing accepted trade words and phrases such as, but not limited to, serpentine, herringbone, braided herringbone, rope, crosscut, woven link, cobra, basket weave, tricolor, florentine, twist, beveled, gem names as listed in § 340-2, quantities of gems, number or numbers of said articles and any monograms, inscriptions or other marks of identification that may appear on such articles. The record, whether electronic or written, shall also include the name, residence address and description of the person from whom such purchase was made, including the day and hour of the purchase. Within 48 hours of the close of business on the day of purchase, the dealer in precious metals or gems shall forward by electronic means or mail, to the Rockland County Bureau of Criminal Identification, the duplicate record of purchase, as provided herein, of each transaction which had taken place on that day.
B.
Such electronic or written record shall be kept on the business premises
of the secondhand precious metal or gem dealership or at the place
designated on the fully approved license, at all times during normal
business hours. Such record shall be open to the inspection of any
police officer or the Director or any person duly authorized for such
purposes by the Director.
C.
If the record of sales is in written form, the dealer is mandated
to use the forms prescribed by the Director and shall reimburse the
Director for the cost of said forms.
A.
It shall be the duty of every secondhand precious
metal or gem dealer to verify the identity of every person from whom
he makes a purchase and to make and keep a written record of the nature
of the evidence submitted by such person to prove his identity.
B.
Only the following shall be deemed acceptable evidence
of identity:
(1)
Any official document, except a Social Security Account number card,
issued by the United States Government, any state, county, municipality
or subdivision thereof, any public agency or department thereof or
any public or private employer, which requires and bears the signature
and picture of the person to whom issued.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
C.
It shall be the duty of every dealer in secondhand
precious metal or gem articles to require that every person from whom
an article is purchased sign his or her name in the presence of the
secondhand precious metal or gem dealer and to compare the signature
on the identifying document, if any, and retain on said premises the
person's signature, together with the number and description of the
identifying document, if any.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
Every secondhand precious metal or gem dealer shall furnish
to the Director or his/her agent or the appropriate law enforcement
agency all information requested relative to all records required
to be kept under this chapter.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
It shall be the duty of the Director or any police officer having jurisdiction at the site where a person is seen dealing in secondhand precious metals or gems to require such person seen so dealing, and who is not known to the Director or such police officer to be duly licensed, to produce or display his secondhand precious metal dealer's license and to enforce the provisions of this chapter against any person found to be in violation of the same. It shall be the duty of the Director or any police officer as described herein to require the immediate closure of any business dealing in the purchase of secondhand metals or gems as defined herein who is operating said business without a license as required by § 340-3 of this chapter.
This chapter shall not create any liability
on the part of the County of Rockland, its officers, agents or employees
or any police officer for any act or damage caused as a result of
reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision lawfully made
thereunder.
A.
A failure to comply with the provisions of § 340-3 or a failure to comply with so much of § 340-12A which requires every dealer in secondhand precious metals or gems by the close of the business day to keep a written record of every secondhand precious metal or gem article purchased by said dealer shall constitute a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 7-14-1981 by L.L. No. 6-1981]
B.
A failure to comply with the other sections of this
chapter shall constitute a violation and shall be punishable by a
fine not exceeding $250 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding
15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of
an offense shall constitute a separate and distinct violation hereunder
for each day the offense is continued.
C.
In addition to the penalties provided above, any offense against
the provisions of this chapter or the rules or regulations adopted
under this chapter shall subject the person committing the offense
to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 as imposed by
the Director for each day that the offense shall continue. Said penalty
shall be collectible by and in the name of the County of Rockland.
[Amended 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
[Added 9-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
The Director shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations
in respect to any subject matter over which he/she has jurisdiction
under this chapter or any other law after a public hearing by the
Director and subject to the approval of the Rockland County Legislature.
Upon adoption and approval of such rules and regulations, they shall
be duly filed with the Clerk to the Rockland County Legislature.
