Secondhand goods.

Existing law regulates secondhand dealers and coin dealers, and makes it unlawful for a person to engage in the business of a secondhand dealer without a license issued by the chief of police, the sheriff, or, where appropriate, the police commission. Existing law also regulates pawnbrokers. Existing law requires a local law enforcement agency to issue a license to engage in the business of a secondhand dealer or pawnbroker to an applicant who has not been convicted of an offense involving stolen property. Existing law requires a secondhand dealer to report, as specified, to the chief of police or sheriff all secondhand "tangible personal property," as defined, purchased, taken in trade, taken in pawn, accepted for sale on consignment, or accepted for auctioning. Existing law requires the report to include, among other things, the identification of the intended seller or pledger of the property, verified by the person taking the information by specified methods. Existing law requires the reporting of this information to the Department of Justice through a single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to develop descriptive categories and secondhand dealers and coin dealers to use these categories in their reports. This bill would define "CAPSS" as the California Pawn and SecondhandDealer System, which is the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system operated by the Department of Justice. The bill would eliminate the requirement that a secondhand dealer send reports on paper forms. The bill would eliminate the requirements that the Department of Justice develop, and secondhand dealers and coin dealers use, descriptive categories in their reports of acquired tangible personal property. Instead, the bill would require the Department of Justice to accept the properly spelled and non-abbreviated plain text property descriptions commonly recognized and utilized by the pawn and secondhand dealer industries. The bill would require a secondhand dealer to provide a property description in an article field descriptor, as specified. This bill would prohibit the Department of Justice, chiefs of police, and sheriffs from requiring secondhand dealers to report any additional information other than that which is required by these provisions. The bill would require that a future change to the reporting requirements of CAPSS that substantively alters the reporting standards be implemented and operated in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act and prohibit the Department of Justice from taking any action with respect to the implementation, operation, or maintenance of CAPSS by adoption of an emergency regulation. The bill would also require the Department of Justice to convene a meeting with the Department of Technology to discuss issues pertaining to any proposed changes or upgrades, and authorize the Department of Technology to provide technological assistance for ongoing improvements, updates, or changes, to CAPSS. Existing law provides an exception to the reporting requirement for the acquisition of the same property from the same customer within 12 months of a reported transfer, except when submission of the report is specifically requested in writing by the local authorities. This bill would expand the reporting requirement exception to all acquisitions of the same property from the same customer within 12 months of a reported transfer. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.