Pawnshop owners throughout the state are bracing themselves for tougher regulations when a new law takes effect on Jan. 1 next year. The law, introduced earlier this year by state Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner late last month, lengthens the period of time pawnshops are required to hold onto items before selling or transferring them and prohibits the sale of items whose serial numbers have been tampered with.
The legislation garnered virtually unanimous support, both in the senate and the house, where it was sponsored by state Rep. Camille Lilly (78th). Harmon has said he was prompted to introduce the legislation after listening to the concerns of residents in Chicago and Oak Park who have complained for years about pawnshops proliferating along North Avenue.
“I want to make sure that these pawnshops — or any others — aren’t helping criminals profit from theft,” Harmon said in a statement released in March.
“Most pawnshop owners already go out of their way to work with the police. They don’t want to help burglars profit. This new waiting period is another step to help victims, law enforcement and local businesses prevent crime.”
Former 29th Ward Alderman Deborah Graham, who was in support of the legislation at the time, despite paving the way for EZ Pawn to open at 6432 W. North Ave. in 2013, echoed Harmon’s concerns.
“This legislation is important because it will provide additional protections and requirements on goods bought and sold,” said Graham. “It will raise the bar on pawn shop owners to give extra safeguards so that pawn shops operate responsibly and with accountability.”
But Aaron Cohen, 33, general manager of A1 Jewelry & Pawn, 6151 W. North Ave., said most of the additional regulations won’t have much impact on Oak Park’s three licensed pawnshops, which already operate under regulations that are stricter than the minimum statewide standards set by the new law.
Starting next year, pawnshops will be required to hold all items for at least 10 days before selling them, or transferring them to other establishments. They will also be prohibited from selling items with serial numbers that have been tampered with. And they will be required to hold items with worn serial numbers for at least 15 days before sale.
“We don’t take items [with missing serials] anyway,” Cohen said in a recent telephone interview. “The only thing we take without serial numbers is jewelry and that’s exempt.”
He also noted that Oak Park already has a 30-day minimum holding period before pawn shops can sell items. He said the deeper problem with pawnshops on the Oak Park-Chicago border isn’t that they facilitate crime, but that they’re so numerous.
“There’s no need for five pawnshops within two blocks,” he said. “Business is already slow for all of us. It’s not very busy right now.”
Cohen, who owns or manages two other pawnshops, including Hollywood Pawners, 6147 W. North Ave., said he’s against tougher restrictions on pawnshops and thinks their negative reputation is misplaced. He argued that more regulations and public awareness should be focused, instead, on payday loan operators.
“Pawnshops in Illinois are regulated by cities and we’re highly regulated by the state already. Everyone has this idea about pawnshops, but we’re not what you’d expect us to be. People should really worry about payday loans because they get away with a lot more stuff than we do.”
Most of the people who come into his pawnshop need emergency money and pawning an item or two is a cheaper alternative to payday loans, he said.
“They charge a lot more interest; it’s ridiculous. You’re better off pawning your chain for a couple hundred dollars than paying payday loan interest rates,” he said.
Representatives from other pawnshops, including Cash America, were not available for comment.
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com