California Pawnbrokers Surety Bond

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Bond Penalty: $20,000

A California pawnbroker bond is one of several requirement of licensing with the California Attorney General's Office (CA DoJ). Pursuant to statutory authority, (a) As a condition precedent to the issuance or renewal of a pawnbroker's license the principal must file a pawnbroker's two-year irrevocable surety bond with the Secondhand dealer and pawnbroker unit, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). The pawnbroker's surety bond must be issued by an admitted surety in favor of the State of California and filed by the principal with the unit. The surety bond is executed for the benefit of depositors of pledged property when the property is not available for redemption, due to the criminal negligence, criminal malfeasance, or other criminal conduct of the pawnbroker. The pledgor must have complied with the conditions of redemption under the terms of the loan/pawn contract. The burden of establishing by clear evidence that all conditions precedent to redemption under the terms of the loan contract have been performed lies solely with the pledgor. (CA Fin. Code Div. 8. 21303(a) and (b))

Per the Department of Justice's publication, "Local licensing agencies have the responsibility to incorporate the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker licensing process into their local programs. It is the responsibility of the local licensing agency to administer, maintain, and enforce state law regarding the secondhand dealer or pawnbroker licenses. Persons, entities, or corporations wishing to conduct business as a pawnbroker must first apply for a specific license with the local licensing agency (chief of police or sheriff) that is required to accept such application. Upon the receipt of the appropriate fees and results of the fingerprint-based criminal history check, the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Unit will provide the local licensing agency with the background check results and a license number.

The California Department of Justice offers an excellent licensing handbook for pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers. You may download a copy here.

California surety bond leader, Surety One, Inc. is a specialist in the bonding needs of the pawnbroker / pawn shop industry. We offer both surety and fidelity bonds in support of pawn and secondhand operators in all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Feel free to contact us at (800) 373-2804, Underwriting@SuretyOne.com or click here for a live chat about your California pawnbroker surety bond need.

Surety bond application review and quoting are free of charge. There is no obligation to purchase.

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