April 24, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Meisner, Condino and Johnson 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, 5, 7, and 8 (MCL
445.401, 445.402, 445.403, 445.404, 445.405, 445.407, and 445.408),
sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 as amended by 2006 PA 675.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to regulate and license second hand dealers, scrap
processors, and junk dealers; to provide for certain reporting and
record-keeping
standards; and to prescribe penalties for
the
violation
of the provisions of this act and
remedies.
Sec. 1. (1) A person, corporation, copartnership, or firm
shall
not carry on the business of dealer in a second hand goods or
dealer, junk dealer, or scrap processor in any of the counties,
cities, or villages of this state without having first obtained,
from the mayor of the city or the chief executive officer of the
county or village where the business is to be carried on, a license
under this act authorizing that person, corporation, copartnership,
or firm to carry on that business.
(2)
This subsection section does not require an internet drop-
off store complying with subsection (3), 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.
(3) An internet drop-off store in compliance with the
following conditions is exempt from licensure as a second hand
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 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 the business of a
second hand dealer, scrap processor, or junk dealer subject to the
provisions of this act.
(2) The license shall designate the particular place where
that person, corporation, copartnership, or firm shall carry on
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 or scrap processor
in any residential community where 65% or more of the property
owners within a radius of 1 city block of the contemplated junk
business or scrap processor petition 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.
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.
(5) The city, village, or county may inspect the premises of a
licensed second hand dealer, scrap processor, 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) "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.
(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).
(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.
(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.
(f) "Second hand 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 articles of any kind, scrap
metals, cast iron, old iron, old steel, tool steel, aluminum,
copper, brass, lead pipe or tools, or lighting and plumbing
fixtures. Second hand dealer or junk dealer does not include a
scrap
processor , or
an automotive recycler. ,
Second hand dealer
or junk dealer includes a junkyard that deals principally in
industrial scrap and is not licensed by a city, village, or county.
Sec. 4. (1) A second hand dealer, scrap processor, 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 dealer, scrap processor, or junk dealer
shall
keep make and maintain a separate book or other written or
electronic record, numbered consecutively, that is 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 ,
the and all of the following:
(a) 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. , and the The licensee shall make a copy of
the operator's license, chauffeur's license, or state
identification card as part of the book or record.
(b) The day and hour when the purchase or exchange was made.
as
well as the
(c)
The location from which the item was
obtained. , if
applicable.
Each entry shall be numbered consecutively.
(3) The description of the article shall include the type of
metal or material, the weight, the amount, and the number of
articles in the transaction.
(4) Payment of an item shall be made only by check of an
electronic payment system. The record shall indicate the method of
payment.
Sec. 5. (1) The articles purchased or exchanged by a second
hand
dealer or a junk dealer shall be
retained by the purchaser
second hand dealer or junk dealer for at least 15 days before
processing or disposing of them, in an accessible place in the
building where the articles are exchanged, purchased, and received.
The articles purchased or exchanged by a scrap processor shall be
retained by the scrap processor for at least 7 days before
processing or disposing of them, in an accessible place in the
building or grounds where the articles are exchanged, 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.
(2) The purchaser 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 that business is carried on,
before
12 o'clock noon, a legible and correct paper or electronic
copy written in the English language from the book or other written
or electronic record, containing a description of each article
purchased or received, including the type of metal or material, the
weight, amount, and number of the articles in the transaction,
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 a copy of the documentation required under section 4(2)
regarding the person from whom it was purchased. The statement
shall
be verified by the person subscribing his or her name thereto
in a manner acceptable to the chief of police or chief law
enforcement officer.
(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 having
a fixed place of business after those articles shall have been
reported.
Sec.
7. No A person shall not purchase or receive by
sale,
barter
or exchange or otherwise, any article mentioned in
customarily received by a person licensed under this act from any
person
between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., nor including from
any
person who is, at the time, intoxicated, or from an habitual
drunkard, or
from any person known by said the
second hand dealer,
scrap
processor, or junk dealer to be a thief, or
any associate of
thieves, or
receiver of stolen property, or from any person he or
she has reason to suspect of being such.
Sec. 8. (1) Except as otherwise provided for in this section,
a person who violates this act is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall
be imprisoned for not more than 6 months and shall be fined not
less than $500.00 or more than $1,000.00.
(2) A second hand dealer, scrap processor, or junk dealer who
buys or sells scrap metal, knowing that it is stolen, is guilty of
a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a
fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both.
(3) A second hand dealer, scrap processor, or junk dealer who
buys or sells stolen scrap metal that he or she has reason to
believe was unlawfully removed from a utility pole,
telecommunication company property, government property, or utility
property or jobsite is guilty of a felony punishable by
imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than
$10,000.00, or both.
(4) The license of a person, corporation, copartnership, or
firm that is found guilty of violating any of the provisions of
this act shall be considered to be revoked upon entry of a
conviction and such person, corporation, copartnership, or firm
shall not be permitted to carry on the business of being a second
hand dealer, scrap processor, or junk dealer within this state for
a period of 1 year after that conviction.
(5) The remedies under this act are independent and
cumulative. The use of 1 remedy by a person does not bar the use of
other lawful remedies by that person or the use of a lawful remedy
by another person.