Title 08, Business and Professions

The department may issue a license to a person if the person (1) has good character; (2) has the experience to engage in business as a pawnbroker; (3) is fit to engage in business as a pawnbroker; (4) submits an application as required by the department under AS 08.01.060; and (5…

The department may consider that a person has withdrawn the person's application for a license if (1) the application does not contain all of the required information; or (2) the information required for the application is not submitted to the department within 90 days after the …

(a) A license is valid for two years. (b) A person may renew a license under AS 08.01.100. The renewal fee must be equal to the fee established under AS 08.76.110(5). (c) Notwithstanding AS 08.01.100(b), if a person fails to renew a license before the expiration date of the licen…

A licensee may not enter into a pawn transaction that exceeds $750, excluding the finance fee and any fees charged under AS 08.76.220.

(a) A pawnbroker may not knowingly enter into a pawnbroker transaction with a person who is (1) under 18 years of age; (2) under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance when the influence is apparent; or (3) using the name of another person. (b) A pawnbroker may not kn…

(a) A pawnbroker shall maintain a register in which the pawnbroker shall enter in legible English at the time of each pawnbroker transaction (1) the date of the pawnbroker transaction; (2) the name of the person conducting the pawnbroker transaction; (3) the name, age, and addres…

The records required to be maintained in a register by AS 08.76.180 must appear in chronological order and, if made in a book, in ink or indelible pencil. Blank lines may not be left between entries. A pawnbroker may not change a record in a register by obliteration, alteration, …

A pawnbroker shall provide to a pledgor or seller a copy of the transaction agreement between the pawnbroker and the pledgor or seller. The agreement must clearly and conspicuously disclose (1) the name and address of the pawnbroker and the name and mailing address of the pledgor…

(a) Except as provided in AS 08.76.280, for each 30-day period of a pawn transaction, including a grace period, a pawnbroker may charge a pledgor a finance fee of $5 or an amount that equals interest at a rate that does not exceed 20 percent of the amount financed, whichever amou…

(a) Except as provided in AS 08.76.280, a pawnbroker may charge a processing fee of not more than $5 for each pawn transaction for preparing and processing the pawn transaction documentation, for providing law enforcement reports, for paying expenses, for providing other services…

A pawnbroker may not sell to a pledgor or otherwise charge a pledgor for insurance in connection with a pawn transaction, except to cover the shipment of pledged property that is redeemed by mail.

A pawnbroker shall return pledged property to a pledgor when the pledgor redeems the pledged property. The pawnbroker shall provide the pledgor with a receipt showing the redemption. The receipt must be on a form approved by the department.

A pawnbroker and a pledgor may agree to extend the 30-day grace period allowed under AS 08.76.270(b), but each extension may not exceed 30 days. An extension must be in writing, and the pawnbroker shall give the pledgor a copy of the extension agreement. The agreement must clearl…

A pawnbroker shall store pledged property in a secure area and maintain the pledged property in an unaltered condition. A pawnbroker may not lease pledged property.

(a) Unless there is a hold order on the pledged property, the pledged property is subject to a claim under AS 08.76.370 or 08.76.380, or the property is returned to a lessor under AS 08.76.400, a pledgor may redeem pledged property by paying the amount financed and the finance fe…

A pawnbroker shall waive the unpaid amount financed and the finance fee due on a pawn transaction and hold, except as provided in AS 08.76.320 — 08.76.380, the pledged property that is the subject of the pawn transaction on the pawnbroker's business premises until 60 days after t…

A pawnbroker may not engage in the business of being a pawnbroker (1) by using a method, including a drive-through window, in which a person remains in a motor vehicle while conducting the pawnbroker transaction; or (2) between the hours of 12 midnight and 6:00 a.m.

A pawnbroker may not require or allow a person to waive a provision of AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590.

A pawnbroker may not knowingly employ a person to work in a pawnshop if, within five years before the employment begins, the person was convicted of, entered a plea of guilty to, entered a plea of no contest to, or had adjudication withheld for a felony or for a misdemeanor invol…

(a) When a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that property in the possession of a pawnbroker at a pawnshop in the law enforcement officer's jurisdiction has been misappropriated, the law enforcement officer may issue a police hold order that directs the pawnbr…

(a) When property in the possession of the pawnbroker may be needed as evidence in a filed court action involving a criminal charge, a law enforcement agency may issue an evidentiary hold order to a pawnbroker that directs the pawnbroker not to release or dispose of the property …

A hold order must be in writing and contain (1) the name of the pawnbroker; (2) if a police hold order, the name, title, and identification number of the law enforcement officer issuing the police hold order, and the name and address of the law enforcement agency for which the la…

(a) A police hold order may not exceed 30 days. However, a law enforcement officer may extend the police hold order for two additional successive 30-day periods by giving written notification to the pawnbroker before the expiration of each 30-day period. (b) A law enforcement age…

The department may suspend or revoke a pawnbroker's license if the pawnbroker knowingly fails to comply with a hold order.

(a) If a person believes that property in the possession of a pawnbroker was misappropriated from the person, and if the person wants to obtain possession of the property from the pawnbroker, the person shall first notify the pawnbroker by certified mail, return receipt requested…

If a claimant and a pawnbroker do not resolve a claim within 10 days after the pawnbroker's receipt of a notice of the claim under AS 08.76.370, the claimant may bring an action in superior court to require the pawnbroker to return the property to the claimant. After a pawnbroker…

A pledgor or seller of property to a pawnbroker is liable to the pawnbroker for the full amount that the pledgor or seller received from the pawnbroker, all charges owed by the pledgor for the pawnbroker transaction, and attorney fees and other costs as allowed by the rules of co…

(a) If property in the possession of a pawnbroker was leased to a pledgor or seller when the pledgor or seller pledged or sold the property to the pawnbroker, but the property did not have a permanent label or other conspicuous mark identifying it as the lessor's property, the pa…

(a) A pawnbroker shall provide a law enforcement officer with a law enforcement report in paper or in an electronic format on a weekly basis. (b) A law enforcement report is confidential under AS 40.25.100 — 40.25.220, and a law enforcement officer and a law enforcement agency ma…

(a) A law enforcement report must contain (1) a complete and accurate description of all property pledged to or purchased by the pawnbroker, including, as applicable, the property's (A) brand name, model number, and manufacturer's serial number; and (B) type of action and caliber…

If a law enforcement agency provides the case number assigned to the investigation for which the inspection is being made, a pawnbroker may not refuse to allow the law enforcement agency to inspect during normal business hours the pawnbroker's register and the purchased property …

(a) The department may, after notice to the licensee and reasonable opportunity to be heard, take the following disciplinary action against a licensee if the licensee or an officer, agent, or employee of the licensee violates AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590: (1) permanently revoke a lic…

If a licensee, or an officer, agent, or employee of a licensee violates AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590, the licensee is liable to the state for a civil penalty. Notwithstanding AS 08.01.075(a)(8), the penalty may not be less than $200 or more than $2,000. The amount of the civil penalt…

(a) Subject to (b) of this section, a municipality with the authority under AS 29 to enact ordinances regulating pawnbrokers and pawnbroker transactions may adopt an ordinance regulating pawnbrokers and pawnbroker transactions if, at a minimum, the ordinance complies with AS 08.7…

(a) The department may adopt regulations to implement AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590. (b) Before the department adopts a regulation to implement AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590, the department shall, in addition to any other requirements under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), notify l…

This chapter does not apply to (1) a financial institution that is subject to the regulation of the department under AS 06, including a commercial bank, savings bank, credit union, premium finance company, small loan company, bank holding company, financial holding company, trust…

In AS 08.76.100 — 08.76.590, (1) “amount financed” means the amount of money, excluding a finance fee, charged by a pawnbroker for a pawn transaction; (2) “business” includes advertising; (3) “claim” means a claim under AS 08.76.370; (4) “claimant” means a person who makes a clai…