HOUSE BILL No. 6003

 

April 22, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Sak and referred to the Committee on Commerce.

 

     A bill to amend 1917 PA 350, entitled

 

"An act to regulate and license second hand dealers and junk

dealers; and to prescribe penalties for the violation of the

provisions of this act,"

 

by amending the title and sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (MCL 445.401,

 

445.402, 445.403, 445.404, and 445.405), sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

 

as amended by 2006 PA 675.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

TITLE

 

     An act to regulate and license second hand secondhand dealers

 

and junk dealers; to provide for certain powers and duties to

 

certain state agencies and departments; and to prescribe penalties

 

for the violation of the provisions of this act.

 

     Sec. 1. (1) A person , corporation, copartnership, or firm


 

shall not carry on engage in the business of dealer in second hand

 

secondhand goods or junk dealer in any of the counties, cities, or

 

villages of this state without having first obtained, obtaining

 

from the department or the mayor of the city or the chief executive

 

officer of the county or village where the business is to be

 

carried on, conducted a license under this act authorizing that

 

person , corporation, copartnership, or firm to carry on engage in

 

that business.

 

     (2) In the case of a county, city, or village that has not

 

adopted an ordinance providing for the licensure of secondhand

 

dealers or junk dealers, the department is responsible for

 

licensure of any secondhand dealers and junk dealers within that

 

county, city, or village. Under such circumstances, the department

 

shall accept applications for licensure in a written or electronic

 

format as it determines appropriate. The department shall require

 

the applicant to demonstrate compliance with any applicable state

 

laws or local ordinances regarding the conduct of a business within

 

this state and the county, city, or village. The department is only

 

required to accept applications for initial and renewal licensure

 

and issue initial and renewal licenses to qualified applicants. Any

 

administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings regarding licensees

 

are considered to be within the jurisdiction of the county, city,

 

or village or the local prosecutor. The department may request the

 

attorney general to proceed against a licensee.

 

     (3) The department may promulgate rules under the

 

administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to

 

24.328, to enforce and administer subsection (2).


 

     (4) (2) This subsection section does not require an internet

 

drop-off store complying with subsection (3) (5), or a person

 

engaged in the sale, purchase, consignment, or trade of personal

 

property or other valuable thing for himself or herself, to obtain

 

a license under this act.

 

     (5) (3) An internet drop-off store in compliance with the

 

following conditions is exempt from licensure as a second hand

 

secondhand dealer or junk dealer under this act:

 

     (a) Has a fixed place of business within this state except

 

that he or she exclusively transacts all purchases or sales by

 

means of the internet and the purchases and sales are not

 

physically transacted on the premises of that fixed place of

 

business.

 

     (b) Has the personal property or other valuable thing

 

available on a website for viewing by photograph, if available, by

 

the general public at no charge, which website shall be searchable

 

by zip code or state, or both. The website viewing shall include,

 

as applicable, serial number, make, model, and other unique

 

identifying marks, numbers, names, or letters appearing on the

 

personal property or other valuable thing.

 

     (c) Maintains records of the sale, purchase, consignment, or

 

trade of the personal property or other valuable thing for at least

 

2 years, which records shall contain a description, including a

 

photograph, if available, and, if applicable, serial number, make,

 

model, and other unique identifying marks, numbers, names, or

 

letters appearing on the personal property or other valuable thing.

 

     (d) Provide the local law enforcement agency with any name


 

under which it conducts business on the website and access to the

 

business premises at any time during normal business hours for

 

purposes of inspection.

 

     (e) Within 24 hours after a request from a local law

 

enforcement agency, provide an electronic copy of the seller's or

 

consignor's name, address, telephone number, driver license number

 

and issuing state, the buyer's name and address if applicable, and

 

a description of the personal property or other valuable thing as

 

described in subdivision (c). The provision of information shall be

 

in a format acceptable to the local law enforcement agency but

 

shall at least be in a legible format and in the English language.

 

     (f) Provide that payment for the personal property or other

 

valuable thing is executed by means of check or other electronic

 

payment system, so long as the payment is not made in cash. No

 

payment shall be provided to the seller until the item is sold.

 

     (g) Immediately remove the personal property or other valuable

 

thing from the website if the local law enforcement agency

 

determines that the personal property or other valuable thing is

 

stolen.

 

     Sec. 2. (1) The department or the mayor of a city or chief

 

executive officer of a county or village may grant to any person ,

 

corporation, copartnership, or firm, a license authorizing that

 

person , corporation, copartnership, or firm to carry on engage in

 

the business of a second hand secondhand dealer or junk dealer

 

subject to in compliance with the provisions of this act if that

 

person qualifies for licensure under this act.

 

     (2) The license shall designate the particular place where


 

that person , corporation, copartnership, or firm shall carry on

 

engages in that business. The business shall be conducted only in

 

the place designated in the license.

 

     (3) A license shall not be issued to any person , firm, or

 

corporation desiring to conduct a junk business in any residential

 

community where 65% or more of the property owners within a radius

 

of 1 city block of the contemplated junk business petition the

 

department or the issuing officer not to do so.

 

     (4) The license shall be for the period of 1 year from date of

 

issuance unless sooner revoked for cause and is not transferable as

 

to ownership or location. The legislative body of any city, or the

 

trustees and chief executive officer of any county or village,

 

shall establish the fee for the processing and issuance of the

 

license in accordance with its charter or local ordinance, based

 

upon the cost of issuance and administration of that license. The

 

department shall charge a fee of not more than $50.00, based upon

 

the actual cost of the department in issuing the license. The

 

department may charge an initial application fee of $50.00 to cover

 

the cost of processing the application.

 

     (5) The city, village, or county may inspect the premises of a

 

licensed second hand secondhand or junk dealer during normal

 

business hours.

 

     Sec. 3. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Automotive recycler" means a person who engages in

 

business primarily for the purpose of selling retail salvage

 

vehicle parts and secondarily for the purpose of selling retail

 

salvage motor vehicles or manufacturing or selling a product of


 

gradable scrap metal or a person employed as a salvage vehicle

 

agent as that term is defined in section 56c of the Michigan

 

vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.56c.

 

     (b) "Department" means the department of labor and economic

 

growth.

 

     (c) (b) "Industrial scrap" means materials that are a direct

 

product or by-product of any form of manufacturing, shaping, or

 

cutting process from a person , company, corporation,

 

copartnership, or firm whose principal business is the

 

manufacturing, shaping, or cutting of materials at a fixed place of

 

business.

 

     (d) (c) "Internet drop-off store" means a person ,

 

corporation, or firm that contracts with other persons ,

 

corporations, or firms to offer its personal property or other

 

valuable thing for sale, purchase, consignment, or trade through

 

means of an internet website and meets the conditions described in

 

section 1(3).

 

     (e) (d) "Local law enforcement agency" means the police agency

 

of the city, village, or township, or if none, the county sheriff

 

of the county in which the internet drop-off store conducts

 

business.

 

     (f) "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership,

 

copartnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity.

 

     (g) (e) "Scrap processor" means a person, utilizing machinery

 

and equipment and operating from a fixed location, whose principal

 

business is the processing and manufacturing of iron, steel,

 

nonferrous metals, paper, plastic, or glass, into prepared grades


 

of products suitable for consumption by recycling mills, foundries,

 

and other scrap processors.

 

     (h) (f) "Second hand "Secondhand dealer" or "junk dealer"

 

means any person , corporation, or member or members of a

 

copartnership or firm whose principal business is that of

 

purchasing, selling, exchanging, storing, or receiving second hand

 

secondhand articles of any kind, scrap metals, cast iron, old iron,

 

old steel, tool steel, aluminum, copper, brass, lead pipe or tools,

 

stainless steel, or lighting and plumbing fixtures. Second hand

 

Secondhand dealer or junk dealer does not include a scrap

 

processor, an automotive recycler, or a junkyard that deals

 

principally in industrial scrap and that is specifically licensed

 

by a city, village, or county as a junkyard.

 

     Sec. 4. (1) A second hand secondhand dealer or junk dealer

 

shall post in a conspicuous place in or upon its place of business

 

a sign having its name and occupation.

 

     (2) A second hand secondhand or junk dealer shall keep a

 

separate book or other record, written or electronic in a format

 

acceptable to the local law enforcement agency, open to inspection

 

by a member of a local law enforcement agency, in which shall be

 

written or entered in the English language at the time of the

 

purchase or exchange of any article a description of the article

 

and the weight, amount, and number of those articles regarding the

 

transaction, the name, description, fingerprint, operator's or

 

chauffeur's license or state identification number, registration

 

plate number, and address of the person from whom the article was

 

purchased and received, the person or place from which the article


 

was obtained, and the day and hour when the purchase or exchange

 

was made as well as the location from which the item was obtained.

 

, if applicable. The record shall indicate the method of payment.

 

Each entry shall be numbered consecutively.

 

     (3) Within 24 hours after a request from a local law

 

enforcement agency, a licensee shall provide a copy of the

 

information recorded in subsection (1).

 

     Sec. 5. (1) The articles purchased or exchanged shall be

 

retained by the purchaser or licensee for at least 15 days before

 

disposing of them, in an accessible place in the building where the

 

articles are purchased and received. A tag shall be attached to the

 

articles in some visible and convenient place, with the number

 

written thereupon, to correspond with the entry number in the book

 

or other record. Payment for an item shall be made only by a check

 

or an electronic payment system.

 

     (2) The purchaser or licensee shall prepare and deliver on

 

Monday of each week to the chief of police or chief law enforcement

 

officer of the local unit of government in which such business is

 

carried on, before 12 o'clock 12 noon, a legible and correct copy

 

written in the English language from the book or other record,

 

containing a description of each article purchased or received

 

during the preceding week, the hour and day when the purchase was

 

made, and the description of the person from whom it was purchased,

 

and the amount, weight, and number of articles regarding the

 

transaction. The statement shall be verified by the person

 

subscribing his or her name thereto to the statement.

 

     (3) This section does not apply to old rags, waste paper, and


 

household goods except radios, televisions, record players, and

 

electrical appliances and does not require the purchaser to retain

 

articles purchased from individuals, firms, or corporations a

 

person having a fixed place of business after those articles shall

 

have been reported.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 120 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.