Except as otherwise provided in this title or §§ 10–14A–03 and 10–14B–03 of the State Government Article, an individual shall have a license before the individual does business as a dealer in the State.
Except those pawnbrokers who are exempt from State licensing under § 12–102(c) of this title or §§ 10–14A–03 and 10–14B–03 of the State Government Article, all pawnbrokers must be licensed as dealers.
An applicant for a license shall:
submit to the Secretary an application on the form that the Secretary provides; and
pay to the Secretary an application fee of $300.
The application fee is nonrefundable.
The applicant shall sign the application under oath.
In addition to any other information that the Secretary requires, the application shall state:
the name, date of birth, and residence address of the applicant;
the fixed business address of the applicant;
the fixed address in the State where precious metal objects will be stored, if different from the fixed business address, provided, however, that a bank or safe deposit box is not an acceptable storage location unless written consent by the applicant and a bank official authorizing access to the storage facility and examination of its contents by law enforcement officers or agents accompany the application;
a telephone number at which the applicant can be reached during normal business hours;
each address where the applicant has conducted any business during the 36 months before application;
the driver’s license number, if any, of the applicant; and
the name and permanent address of each employee who will work with the applicant in the business of the applicant.
The application form shall contain, immediately above the signature line, the following:
“If issued a license, I agree to allow a municipal, county, or State police officer or agent acting in the course of a stolen property investigation or an investigation of a violation of this title to inspect and photograph all precious metal objects and records at my business or storage locations.”
Before an individual may begin work for a dealer as an employee:
the dealer shall submit to the Secretary, on the form that the Secretary provides, the name of the individual; and
the individual shall apply for a national and State criminal history records check required under § 12-204(b) of this subtitle.
In this section, “Central Repository” means the Criminal Justice Information System Central Repository of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Applicants for licenses under § 12–201 of this subtitle and individuals whose names must be submitted to the Secretary under § 12–203 of this subtitle shall apply to the Central Repository for a national and State criminal history records check on a form approved by the Director of the Central Repository.
The Central Repository shall provide to the Secretary:
the national and State criminal history records of each individual requiring a criminal history records check under subsection (b) of this section and issue a printed statement listing any convictions and pleas of guilty or nolo contendere to any criminal charge;
an update of the initial criminal history records check for an individual requiring a criminal history records check and issue a revised printed statement listing any convictions and pleas of guilty or nolo contendere to any criminal charge occurring in the State after the date of the initial criminal history records check; and
an acknowledged receipt of the application for a criminal history records check by an individual requiring a criminal history records check.
An individual requiring a criminal history records check shall submit a complete set of legible fingerprints taken at any designated State or local law enforcement office in the State or other agency or location approved by the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to the Central Repository.
An individual requiring a criminal history records check under subsection (b) of this section shall pay:
the mandatory processing fee required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history records check; and
the fee authorized under § 10–221(b)(7) of the Criminal Procedure Article for access to Maryland criminal history records.
A dealer or an applicant may pay for the costs borne by the employee or other individual requiring a criminal history records check under subsection (b) of this section.
Information obtained by the Secretary from the Central Repository under this title shall be confidential and may be disseminated only to the individual who is the subject of the criminal history records check.
Nothing in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall preclude the Secretary from notifying a dealer or an applicant of the approval or disqualification of the employee for employment based on information obtained by the Secretary under this section.
The Secretary shall verify periodically the continued employment or licensure of individuals requiring criminal history records checks in accordance with regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Upon receipt of a complete national and State criminal record report from the Central Repository in accordance with § 12-204 of this subtitle, the Secretary shall issue a license to each applicant who meets the requirements of this subtitle.
The Secretary:
may issue a license only for a fixed business address; but
may not issue a license for an address that is:
a hotel or motel room;
a motor vehicle;
a post office box; or
a location which does not meet the qualifications as defined in § 12-101(d) of this title.
The Secretary may not issue more than 1 license for any single business location unless the dealers at that location are in partnership.
The Secretary may not issue a license to a minor.
Whenever a license is suspended or revoked, another license may not be issued to a dealer for the same business location unless the applicant provides the documentation and information, which the Secretary establishes by regulation, is necessary to demonstrate that the applicant will be engaging in a business which is separate and independent from the business of the revoked or suspended license.
A license authorizes the licensee to do business as a dealer only at the address for which the license is issued.
Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a dealer who holds a license under this subtitle may:
make purchases at an estate and judicial sale; and
transact business at the residence of the owner of a precious metal object or a place where the owner keeps a precious metal object:
on request of the owner; and
after giving written notice of the proposed transaction and its location to the local law enforcement unit with jurisdiction over that location.
Unless a license is renewed for a 2-year term as provided in this section, the license expires on the first April 30 that comes:
after the effective date of the license; and
in an even-numbered year.
At least 1 month before a license expires, the Secretary shall mail or electronically transmit to the licensee:
a renewal application form; and
a notice that states:
the date on which the current license expires; and
the amount of the renewal fee.
If an electronic transmission under paragraph (1) of this subsection is returned to the Secretary as undeliverable, the Secretary shall mail to the licensee, at the last known address of the licensee, the materials required under paragraph (1) of this subsection within 10 business days of the date the Secretary received the notice that the electronic transmission was undeliverable.
Before a license expires, the licensee periodically may renew it for an additional 2–year term, if the licensee:
submits to the Secretary a renewal application on the form that the Secretary provides;
signs the renewal application under oath;
updates the information submitted in the original application and states that the information is current;
except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, agrees to comply with each requirement applicable to the original application;
states that the licensee:
has not violated this title;
has not been convicted of an offense specified in § 12–209 of this subtitle; and
has not had a similar license denied, suspended, or revoked in another jurisdiction;
otherwise is entitled to be licensed; and
pays to the Secretary a renewal fee of $265.
The Secretary may require a licensee to submit a national and State criminal history records check with the renewal application.
The Secretary shall renew the license of each licensee who meets the requirements of this section.
A license is not transferable and may be used only to benefit the licensee.
A licensee may change the place of business for which a license is issued only if the licensee:
submits to the Secretary an application to transfer the license to a new business location on a form that the Secretary provides; and
receives the written approval of the Secretary.
Within 45 days after the application is filed with the Secretary, the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the application and notify the licensee of the approval or disapproval, in writing.
If the Secretary approves a proposed change of place of business, the licensee shall:
submit to the Secretary a current list of names of each employee to be employed at the new location; and
attach the written approval of the Secretary to the license until an amended license is received by the licensee.
The Secretary may determine that licenses issued under this subtitle shall expire on a staggered basis.
Each licensee shall display the license conspicuously in the place of business of the licensee.
Only a licensed dealer may advertise for the commercial trading with the public or acquiring from the public in secondhand precious metal objects.
An advertisement for the commercial trading with the public or acquiring from the public in secondhand precious metal objects shall include the name and license number of the licensee, in compliance with applicable regulations adopted by the Department.
Except as otherwise provided, in this subsection, a dealer’s or applicant’s agents, employees, management personnel, or partners include only those individuals who are directly involved in pawn transactions or the acquisition or sale of secondhand precious metals on behalf of the dealer or applicant.
Subject to the hearing provisions of § 12-210 of this subtitle, the Secretary may deny a license to an applicant, reprimand a licensee, or suspend or revoke a license if the applicant or licensee or an agent, employee, manager, or partner of the applicant or licensee:
fraudulently or deceptively obtains or attempts to obtain a license for the applicant or licensee or for another person;
fraudulently or deceptively uses a license;
has a similar license denied, suspended, or revoked in another jurisdiction;
under the laws of the United States or of any state, is convicted of a:
felony; or
misdemeanor that is directly related to the fitness and qualification of the applicant or licensee to be involved in a pawn transaction or the sale or acquisition of secondhand precious metals;
knowingly employs or knowingly continues to employ, after being notified by the Secretary, an individual who, under the laws of the United States or of any state, is convicted of:
a felony; or
a misdemeanor that is directly related to the fitness and qualification of the employee to be involved in a pawn transaction or the sale or acquisition of secondhand precious metals;
knowingly employs or knowingly continues to employ in any capacity, after being notified by the Secretary, an individual whose precious metals dealer’s license has been revoked;
willfully fails to provide or willfully misrepresents any information required to be provided under this title;
violates this title; or
violates a regulation adopted under this title.
Instead of or in addition to reprimanding a licensee or suspending or revoking a license under this subsection, the Secretary may impose a penalty not exceeding $5,000 for each violation.
To determine the amount of the penalty imposed under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider:
the seriousness of the violation;
the harm caused by the violation;
the good faith of the licensee; and
any history of previous violations by the licensee.
The Secretary shall pay any penalty collected under this subsection into the General Fund of the State.
The Secretary shall distribute periodically to all dealers a list of individuals whose licenses have been revoked in the State.
If a licensee is charged with a violation of this title that could result in suspension or revocation of the license, or if the Secretary has probable cause to believe that this title has been, or will be, violated through transactions likely to occur pursuant to § 12-206 of this subtitle, the Secretary may seek from a circuit court an immediate restraining order to prohibit the licensee from:
buying or selling a secondhand precious metal object;
disposing of a secondhand precious metal object; or
disposing of a record about a secondhand precious metal object.
The restraining order is in effect until:
the court lifts the order;
the charges are adjudicated or dismissed; or
in the case of an event held in accordance with § 12-206 of this subtitle, arrangements are made by the licensee which will ensure compliance with the provisions of this title.
The Secretary shall consider the following facts in the granting, denial, renewal, suspension, or revocation of a license or the reprimand of a licensee when an applicant or licensee is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor described in subsection (a)(2)(iv) of this section:
the nature of the crime;
the relationship of the crime to the activities authorized by the license;
with respect to a felony, the relevance of the conviction to the fitness and qualification of the applicant or licensee to act as a pawnbroker or a secondhand precious metal object dealer;
the length of time since the conviction; and
the behavior and activities of the applicant or licensee before and after the conviction.
Except as otherwise provided in § 10-226 of the State Government Article, before the Secretary takes any final action under § 12-209 of this subtitle, the Secretary shall give the individual against whom the action is contemplated an opportunity for a hearing before the Secretary.
The Secretary shall give notice and hold the hearing in accordance with Title 10, Subtitle 2 of the State Government Article.
The Secretary may administer oaths in a proceeding under this section.
If, after due notice, the individual against whom the action is contemplated does not appear, nevertheless the Secretary may hear and determine the matter.
A party to a proceeding under this title who is aggrieved by a final decision of the Secretary in a contested case, as defined in § 10-202 of the State Government Article, may take an appeal as allowed in §§ 10-222 and 10-223 of the State Government Article.
The Secretary shall inform each primary law enforcement unit of each license that is issued, renewed, changed to a new business location, denied, suspended, or revoked.
A dealer may not acquire a precious metal object, or take any merchandise in a pawn transaction, from an individual who is a minor.