Bill Text: MI HB4887 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Occupations; pawnbrokers; hold process for allegedly misappropriated goods; establish. Amends title & secs. 9, 10 & 11 of 1917 PA 273 (MCL 446.209 et seq.) & adds sec. 12.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-10-17 - Assigned Pa 345'18 With Immediate Effect [HB4887 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HB4887-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4887
August 16, 2017, Introduced by Rep. Lucido and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Trade.
A bill to amend 1917 PA 273, entitled
"An act to regulate and license pawnbrokers in certain governmental
units of this state; and to prescribe certain powers and duties of
certain local governmental units and state agencies,"
by amending the title and section 10 (MCL 446.210), the title as
amended by 2002 PA 469 and section 10 as amended by 1998 PA 233,
and by adding section 12.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An
act to regulate and license pawnbrokers in certain
governmental
units of that conduct
business in this state; to
provide for the disposition of allegedly misappropriated property
in the possession of pawnbrokers; to provide remedies and prescribe
penalties;
and to prescribe certain provide for the powers and
duties of certain local governmental units and state agencies.
Sec.
10. (1) Title Subject to
section 12, title to the an item
that
is pledged or pawned vests in the
pawnbroker upon the
expiration
of 3 months or 90 days after
the pledge or pawn, or
after
the expiration of any longer period
beyond 3 months agreed
upon
to by the parties, if the borrower has not
paid the debt,
interest, and charges on the item that was pledged or pawned.
(2)
A Subject to section 12, a
pawnbroker shall not sell any
pawn
or pledge item that was
pledged or pawned until the item has
remained
in his or her the
pawnbroker's possession for at least 3
months.90 days.
Sec. 12. (1) If an appropriate law enforcement official has
probable cause to believe that property in the possession of a
pawnbroker is misappropriated, or if a person files an official
police report alleging misappropriation of property, the official
may place a written hold order on the property. All of the
following apply to a written hold order under this subsection:
(a) The hold order shall specify a holding period. The length
of the holding period shall not exceed 90 days, unless extended by
court order.
(b) The appropriate law enforcement official who placed the
hold order may rescind it in writing.
(c) An appropriate law enforcement official may place only 1
hold order on a particular item of property.
(d) The hold order must include all of the following
information:
(i) The name and mailing address of the pawnbroker.
(ii) The name, title, and identification number of the
appropriate law enforcement official who placed the hold order and,
if applicable, the number assigned to the claim or report relating
to the property.
(iii) A complete description of the property in the possession
of the pawnbroker, including model number and serial number, if
applicable.
(iv) The name of the person that reported that the property
was misappropriated, unless otherwise prohibited by law.
(v) The expiration date of the holding period specified under
subdivision (a).
(2) An appropriate law enforcement official must sign and date
a copy of a written hold order he or she placed on an item of
property under subsection (1) as evidence that he or she placed the
hold order and of the date the holding period specified under
subsection (1)(a) begins.
(3) On the tenth day after a hold order placed under
subsection (1) expires, if the pawnbroker has not received notice
from a court that it has granted an extension of the hold order on
the property, title to the property vests in and is considered
conveyed by operation of law to the pawnbroker, free of any
liability for claims but subject to any restrictions contained in
the pawn transaction contract and subject to the provisions of this
act.
(4) A court shall not grant an extension of a hold order
placed on property under subsection (1) unless a person that claims
an interest in the property that is adverse to the pawnbroker or
pawner has filed a report with a law enforcement agency and
provided a copy of the report to the court and a copy of that
report accompanies the notice from the court that it granted the
extension described in subsection (3).
(5) Except as provided in subsection (6), a pawnbroker shall
not release or dispose of property that is subject to a hold order
under this section except pursuant to a court order, a written
release from the appropriate law enforcement official, or the
expiration of the holding period of the hold order described in
subsection (1)(a).
(6) While a hold order is in effect, on request, the
pawnbroker must release the property that is subject to the hold
order to the custody of the appropriate law enforcement official
that placed the hold order for use in a criminal investigation or
proceeding related to the ownership claim. The release of the
property to the custody of the appropriate law enforcement official
is not considered a waiver or release of the pawnbroker's property
rights in, interest in, or lien on the property.
(7) A law enforcement official or any other person that
obtains custody of property under this section shall not deliver
the property to any person that claims ownership of the property
unless both of the following are met:
(a) The property is delivered after a hearing at which a court
determines the merits of the claims to the property.
(b) If the court finds against the pawnbroker, the court
orders the pawner or seller of the item that was pawned or pledged
to make restitution to the pawnbroker for all money that the
pawnbroker advanced, and the total interest and charges accrued
since the pawnbroker first advanced that money, together with
reasonable attorney fees and costs that the pawnbroker incurred in
defending the action related to the disputed property.
(8) If the court after a hearing described in subsection
(7)(a) finds in favor of the pawnbroker, the property must be
returned to the pawnbroker.
(9) A pawnbroker is not liable to any person for any property
that is seized from the pawnbroker based on the pawnbroker's
inability to return the property to that person because of the
seizure.
(10) As used in this section, "appropriate law enforcement
official" means a sheriff or sheriff's deputy of a sheriff's
department in this state; village or township marshal of a village
or township in this state; officer of the police department of any
city, village, or township in this state; or office of the Michigan
state police.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
