Suggestions on How to Change The Law

1. Clarify the law regarding title. Although it was the SL DA's office who misinterpretted the law, better clarification is needed to ensure that title remains with the original owner in cases of theft.

2. Increase requirements for pawn shops to positively identify where a person actually lives. These new requirements could be as simple as requiring a mailing address where pawned money could be sent, or as complex and requiring a credit card where a quick check could be run to match up the address with the credit card.

3. Leverage the database to 'flag' known and/or suspected criminals from selling to pawn. If the police know someone is selling stolen items, make it so that he can't sell to any pawnshop anymore.

4. Leverage the database to match previously unidentifiable items. If we used the database to say "Criminal X sold a bike and trimmers to Pawn X and a lawn mower and string trimmer to Pawn Y, this must be the items described by the victim."

5. Return the holding period for pawn shops for 'sold' items to a more reasonable time of 15 business days. In the recent laws passed the holding period for 'sold' items was reduced from 30 days to 10 days, while 'pawned' items remained at 30 days. This change seems counterintuitive. It would seem those looking for easy cash are very unlikely to pawn an item versus selling it.

6. Open the database to the public and educate them on its existence. Just as I found my bike on eBay, allowing the public to monitor these databases will likely result in even more property recovery.

Ready to Take Action?

We can make a difference. Its easy and fun (sort of) to do...

If you haven't heard the story, the short of it is here, the long of it is here. The real issue is any one of us can fall victim to this law and how the local law enforcement has chosen to enforce it.

What Can I Do? - Fill Out The Form Below

First find your representatives (if you don't already know them):

House Representatives - Alphabetical List
State Senators - Alphabetical List

or look them up on a map:

Look your STATE REPRESENTATIVE with this handy MAP tool
Look up your STATE SENATOR with this handy MAP tool

If you are the type who likes to speak for yourself, contact them directly...

OR USE THE EASY FORM BELOW:

Choose your representative:

and/or

Enter your information

Name*

Address

City

State

Zip

Email*

Phone

This is what your email will say:

As my represenative, I am writing you in regard to Utah Code Ann 13-32a-101 through 114, created by 2006 HB 133 and its addendum 2007 HB 402, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Lockart of Provo. Your attention to this matter, and a response as to your stance on this law would be appreciated.

It has recently come to my attention that provisions in these bills give an unprecedented and disproportionate amount of protection to pawn shops and second-hand stores in regard to the sale of stolen property, while stripping the citizens of Utah of their rights to recover it.

The law now states that a pawn shop or second-hand store has to enter the serial number of purchased and pawned items into a database. The database is a great idea, however once information has been entered the shop only has to hold items sold to them for ten days.

After this extremely short grace period, if the item does not turn up in the database as stolen, the item may be sold in the clear. At the point of sale, apparently the title of that item is then transferred to the purchaser based on the concept of a 3rd Party Purchaser in Good Faith. If a victim of theft is somehow able to later identify that item as their stolen property, they apparently no longer have claim to the stolen property. The law is not very clear in this regard, when frankly the transfer of stolen goods through an obvious intermediary for fenced items should follow similar guidelines that a seller of real estate or automobiles currently does.

1) The design of this bill makes it easy for a pawn shop to clear stolen items. Most don't know the serial numbers for most items they own. If an individual doesn't have serial numbers, even if they are able to correctly identify the items, they can't claim them after 10 days, if at all if sold to pawn shops.

2) The very nature of pawn shops seems to be rife with stolen items, and it makes little sense to make their requirements for pawn shops more lenient. In fact, an ordinary business that isn't classified as a pawn shop or second-hand store would remain liable for selling stolen items.

3) Such a short window for pawn shops to clear potentially stolen items seems counterintuitive and may even encourage theft. An unscrupulous pawn shop may even have incentive to form burglary rings given the ease of gaining title to property.

4) The onus should be on the pawn shops to make sure that items aren't stolen, and they should ultimately continue to remain responsible for purchasing stolen items. Businesses can find ways to protect themselves in these instances. If a pawn shop were ultimately liable, they would naturally inform obvious thieves they weren't going to buy from them.

5) The real issue is that any one of us can fall victim to this law with little recourse. If you haven't written down your serial numbers for everything you own, and it goes to a pawn shop, after 10 days you can no longer claim it.

Please help to change this law to allow victims of theft to continue to recover stolen items sold to pawn shops and second hand stores. If pawn shops and second hand stores remain liable for items that they sell, as is anybody else, this will help to eliminate a venue for criminals to unload their stolen goods and restore the rights of the public.

Regards,