VI. DUTIES IMPOSED UPON PAWNBROKERS, AND PENALTIES FOR

CONTRAVENTIONS.

954. Whosoever carries on the business of pawnbroking, Penalty. or whosoever lends on pawn, without having a license to that effect, still in force, incurs a penalty of two hundred dollars. 41 V., c. 3, s. 120. As to rates to be taken by pawnbrokers, See R. S. C., c. 128.

955. No person shall keep more than one house, shop or Only one place of business, for taking goods in pawn on money loans, house, &c., under a single license, under a penalty of fifty dollars for each under a single week during which he contravenes this article. 41 V., c. 3, s.

121.

956. Every pawnbroker shall expose, on the outside of the Sign required. door of his house, shop or place of business, a sign bearing his name, with the word " pawnbroker" written or printed thereon in large letters.

and remune

He shall also cause to be painted or printed in plain letters, Scale of the and placed in a prominent part of his shop, a graduated scale rates on loan, of the rates the law allows him to charge on loans, and of the ration to be remuneration he is entitled to exact in certain cases, on the made conspicuous. memoranda or notes he is obliged to keep in the manner provided in the following articles, as well as mentioning those he is obliged to keep gratuitously, under a penalty in each of these cases of forty dollars, for each week of his default so to do. 41 V., c. 3, s. 122.

957. Before making a loan, he shall enter in a book, kept Previous enfor that purpose, a description of the articles received in pawn, tries required. mention the sum loaned, the date of the month and year of

the loan, the name of the pawner, the street he lives in, and the number of his dwelling, if it be numbered. 41 V., c. 3, s. 123.

958. The entry must specify whether the pawner be a Particulars to proprietor, tenant or sub-tenant, or if he be merely a boarder be given in in the house, using the letter (P) if he be a proprietor, (T) if entries. he be a tenant, (S) if he be a sub-tenant, (B) if he be a boarder. The name of the proprietor of the house, as given by the pawner if he be not the proprietor, shall also be entered. 41 V., c. 3, s. 124.

959. Every article on which a loan is effected shall be en- Book for tered in a book kept monthly for that purpose, and shall be articles kept carefully kept.

monthly.

and note

These entries shall be made in the order of the receipt of Number of the articles, and be designated by numbers; the first article re- articles, entry ceived bearing No. 1, and so on to the end of the month; and thereof. each memorandum mentioned in the following article, relative to the object placed in pawn, shall be inscribed with a number corresponding to the entry made in the book. 41 V., c. 3, s. 125.

Particulars to be given in note.

Its reception required.

Remuneration allowed for the note.

Nothing to be paid for storage.

Note required for the recovering of articles.

Duplicate of

note attached

960. When taking articles in pawn, the pawnbroker shall give to the pawner a memorandum or note, containing the description of the articles pawned, the name, place of residence of the pawner, the number of his house, and the indication of his quality, whether proprietor, tenant, sub-tenant or boarder, using the letters herein above indicated in article 958. On the back thereof the name and residence of the pawner shall be mentioned. 41 V., c. 3, s. 126.

961. The pawner shall take up such memorandum, and, if he fail to do so, the pawnbroker is forbidden to keep the articles in pawn. 41 V., c. 3, s. 127.

962. If the sum loaned be less than one dollar, the memorandum is given gratuitously; if it be for more than one and less than two dollars, the pawnbroker may exact one cent for giving the same; two cents if it be two dollars or above that amount, but does not reach the sum of five dollars; four cents, if the sum loaned be five dollars or more, but does not reach the sum of twenty-five dollars; and seven cents if the sum loaned be twenty-five dollars or more. 41 V., c. 3, s. 128.

963. No pawnbroker shall receive any money or valuable consideration whatever, for the keeping or storage of articles placed in pawn. 41 V., c. 3, s. 129.

964. No pawnbroker is obliged to return the articles placed in pawn, unless the pawner remit to him the memorandum, except in the case hereinafter mentioned in article 971. 41 V., c. 3, s. 130.

965. A duplicate of the memorandum shall be attached to to article; en- the articles placed in pawn, and, when the said articles are retry required; turned, the pawnbroker shall write, on each duplicate, the rate its keeping. of profit made upon such articles, and keep one of these duplicates during one year. 41 V., c. 3, s. 131.

Conditions

for the re

covering of

In case of refusal.

966. If, in the course of one year from the date of the pawning, the pawner offer to the pawnbroker the amount in the articles. principal of the loan, with the legal profits accrued, and deliver up, at the same time, the memorandum above referred to, and the pawnbroker refuses, without reasonable cause, to return the articles by him detained, the pawner may declare the fact, under oath, before two justices of the peace of the district where the contravention has been committed, who shall summon before them the pawnbroker and the pawner, and examine them, with their witnesses, if any they offer. 41 V., c. 3, s. 132.

Summoning and examining the parties.

Restitution ordered.

967. If the tender of the memorandum, of the principal amount of the loan and the profits, within the above mentioned delay of one year, be proved under oath, the justices of the peace shall order the immediate restitution of the articles

placed in pawn, the pawnbroker to receive such memorandum, principal and profits. 41 V., c. 3, s. 133.

968. If, notwithstanding such order so given to him and Imprisonthe offers to him made, the pawnbroker persist in his refusal ment. to deliver the articles, or to pay the value thereof, according as the justices of the peace shall have adjudicated, they shall cause him to be imprisoned in the common gaol of the district in which the offence was committed, and he is there detained, until restitution of the articles pawned or until full payment of their value to the pawner. 41 V., c. 3, s. 134.

proprietor.

969. Any person who presents the memorandum to the Bearer of note pawnbroker, and offers him the payment of the loan, and the held to be the profits, is, in so far as regards the pawnbroker, held to be the proprietor of the articles placed in pawn. 41 V., c. 3, s. 135.

er articles.

970. The pawnbroker, on receipt of payment and of the Notice forbidmemorandum, shall hand over to him the articles pawned, and ding to deliv he is then relieved from all responsibility, unless he shall have been previously notified, in writing, by the real proprietor, forbidding him to deliver the said articles to any other than himself. 41 V., c. 3, s. 136.

affidavit shall

971. In the case of such a notice being received by the When a copy pawnbroker, and likewise where the memorandum has been of note with lost, destroyed or stolen from the pawner, or fraudulently ob- be delivered. tained from him, (the articles remaining in the hands of the pawnbroker,) the pawnbroker shall give to the person, who pretends to be the proprietor, a copy of the memorandum, with a form of an affidavit of the circumstances, which are stated to him, which affidavit shall be sworn to by the pretended proprietor before a justice of the peace.

On verbal notice given, in the presence of a witness, by the Notice. pretended proprietor to the pawnbroker and to the pawner, of

the time and place when and where they should attend before Hearing. the justice of the peace, provided that one day elapses between the day of notice and that of attendance, the justice of the peace, at the time and place indicated, hears the parties

and their witnesses under oath, and examines the documents Decision. produced, and awards the articles claimed to him who establishes his right of ownership. 41 V., c. 3, s. 137.

972. The judgment shall be in writing and shall be de- Judgment; its livered by the justice of the peace to him who shall be de- effect. clared to be the owner, who, upon delivering it, in the presence of a witness, to the pawnbroker, acquires the right to redeem the articles.

If the pawner make default, the statement under oath of Default on the pretended proprietor of such article establishes his right of part of the proprietorship. 41 V., c. 3, s. 138.

pawner.

sufficient.

In what case 973. In the case where, for some one of the reasons above an affidavit is mentioned, the pawner cannot produce the memorandum, and no other person claims the articles pawned, his affidavit given, as hereinbefore provided, constitutes sufficient proof of his right of ownership.

Duty of the In either case, the pawnbroker must return the articles, on pawnbroker. receiving what is due to him thereon, and, on his refusal to return them, he is subject to the penalties contained in article 992.

No costs.

Pawnbroker's

fee on copy and affidavit.

Auction sale of articles pawned.

All these proceedings are without costs. 41 V., c. 3, s. 139.

974. If the loan do not exceed one dollar, the pawnbroker has a right to receive two cents for the copy and affidavit, four cents, if the loan be more than one dollar and do not exceed five dollars, and, if the loan exceed five dollars, the pawnbroker shall receive five cents. 41 V., c. 3, s. 140.

975. The pawnbroker shall sell, by public auction, all articles pawned, but not redeemed within one year from but exclusive of the day of pawning, without the formality of a judgment to that effect, notwithstanding article 1971 of the Civil Code. 41 V., c. 3, s. 141.

Publication of 976. A catalogue containing the name and residence of the a catalogue. pawnbroker, a description, separately, of the articles, their number, the date when pawned, and notice of the sale containing the above mentioned particulars, and the day, hour and Notice of sale. place of sale, shall be inserted in some newspaper in the locality, or, in case there is no newspaper published there, then, in the nearest locality wherein a newspaper is published, not less than three days previous to such sale; and, in the interval between the publication and the sale, the articles shall be exposed to view and open to public inspection. 41 V., c. 3, s. 142.

Exhibition and inspection of articles.

Rights of the pawner.

Penalty

against the pawnbroker.

Book of sales.

977. So long as such sale has not taken place, the pawner may redeem the articles pawned, on paying to the pawnbroker what is due on them, and the pawner's share of the expenses incurred by the publication mentioned in the preceding article, which share shall be the proportion, which the sum loaned on the articles redeemed bears to the total sum loaned on the articles mentioned in such publication. 41 V., c. 3, s. 143.

978. If the articles be not separately described in the catalogue, the pawnbroker shall pay to the owner thereof a sum of not more than forty dollars, and not less than eight dollars, to be recovered in the same manner as penalties under this section. 41 V., c. 3, s. 144.

979. Every pawnbroker shall enter in a book, kept for the purpose, an exact account of the sales by auction of pawn

ed articles, indicating therein the date when the articles were pawned, the name of the pawner, the date of the sale, the name and residence of the auctioneer, and the amount of such sale. 41 V., c. 3, s. 145.

back to pro

980. If the amount of the sale exceed the loan, in prin- Surplus to be cipal and profits, the surplus shall be paid, after deducting the delivered expenses of the catalogue and the auction fees incurred, to the prietor. person in whose name the articles were pawned, in the proportion of the amount of the sale to the total amount of the articles comprised in the catalogue, provided a demand for Proviso. such surplus be made within three years from the sale. 41 V., c. 3, s. 146.

981. The pawner, or the person in whose name the articles The pawner were pawned, has a right to inspect the entry made of such has a right to sale, within the aforesaid delay of three years. 41 V., c. 3, s. book.

147.

inspect the

tion.

982. If the pawnbroker made no such entry in such book, Penalty if he refuse an inspection of such entry to the pawner or against the his representatives, if the articles have been sold for a greater in cases of pawnbroker sum than is entered in such book, if he did not sell the articles contravenin conformity with the foregoing provisions, if he refuse to pay the surplus of the sale, if the articles have been sold before the time limited, if they be not forthcoming or have become depreciated in value, while so pawned, in each such case, the pawnbroker incurs a penalty of forty dollars and shall pay to the pawner, as damages, treble the amount loaned, to be recovered before two justices of the peace of the district, reserving to the pawner his ordinary recourse for any excess of damages, if such there be. 41 V., c. 3, s. 148.

983. No pawnbroker shall, except at public auction, pur- Pawnbroker chase, either directly or indirectly, any articles pawned with may purchase him. 41 V., c. 3, s. 149.

at auction.

ceive articles f.om certain

984. No pawnbroker shall receive articles in pawn from a Cannot reperson appearing to be under fifteen years of age, or appearing to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor, or buy persons, or or take in pawn the memorandum or note aforesaid of note from any other pawnother pawnbroker;

broker.

Or receive in pawn on any Sunday or holiday, or on any Nor on certain other day before eight o'clock in the morning or after eight days or hours. o'clock in the evening, except Saturday evening and the evenings preceding Good Friday and Christmas, when he may keep his shop open until ten o'clock at night. 41 V., c. 3, S.

150.

985. The justices of the peace, if they consider it necessary, Production of may compel the pawnbroker to produce his pawnbook, memo- books, &c., of

pawnbroker