How Do Pawn Shops Avoid Accepting Stolen Goods?

Government-Issued IDs Are Required:

At all Empire Loan locations, we require all customers to show a valid, non-expired government-issued photo ID (like a drivers license or passport) at the time of the transaction. Checking and recording customer IDs allows us to keep a record of the person who sold us an item or used an item as collateral for a pawn loan. This way, we are able to identify the person if we find out later that the item was stolen.

Transactions Are Reported To Police:

Every transaction at all Empire Loan locations are reported to local police departments and we hold onto the item for a specific period of time (usually 30 days). This gives local law enforcement time to investigate if an item was the result of a crime. Records that we keep include a description and picture of the item that was brought in, a copy of the customer’s ID along with a signature from the customer stating that they are the rightful owner of the merchandise along with a photo of the person presenting the item. If the item should turn out to have been stolen, these records are provided to the police so they can prosecute the thief. This way, if the police department lets us know that an item was reported as stolen, we will be able to get the item back to its rightful owner and assist the police with finding the person who sold us the stolen merchandise. We work closely with local law enforcement agencies to make sure we do not take stolen merchandise!

Ownership Demonstrations:

One more way that we avoid accepting stolen items is by having the customer who is looking to sell an item or use it as collateral for a loan demonstrate to our pawnbrokers that they know how to use the item. For instance, if a customer brings in a musical instrument that they claim to be theirs, we may have them play a few notes to demonstrate that they know how to play the instrument. Similarly, if a customer brings in an electronic with a passcode, we may require that they unlock it in front of us to demonstrate that they know the password and are the rightful owner of the item.