BOCC to Consider New Regulations for Sellers of Second Hand Goods

BRADENTON – At Tuesday's BOCC meeting, Manatee County Commissioners will vote on an ordinance that would further regulate the selling of second-hand goods. If adopted, the ordinance would require that sellers of second-hand goods adhere to a number of regulations including increased record-keeping, online inventories and submission to law enforcement inspections. The county says that the law is aimed at reducing theft by making it harder for stolen goods to be successfully sold through such vendors.

The main points of the draft ordinance are listed below. For more information visit the BOCC agenda page.

1. The secondhand goods must be available on the website for viewing by the public at no charge;
2. The records of the sale, purchase, consignment, or trade must be maintained for at least 2 years;
3. The records of the sale, purchase, consignment, or trade, and the description of the secondhand goods as listed on the
website, must contain the serial number of each item, if any;
4. The secondhand goods listed on the website must be searchable based upon the state or zip code;
5. The business must provide the appropriate law enforcement agency with the name or names under which it conducts business on the website;
6. The business must allow the appropriate law enforcement agency to inspect its business premises at any time during normal business hours; 
7. Any payment by the business resulting from such a sale, purchase, consignment, or trade must be made to the person or entity with whom the business contracted to offer the
the goods and must be made by check or via money services business licensed under Part II of chapter 560, Florida Statutes; 
8. (i) At least 48 hours after the estimated time of contracting to offer the secondhand goods, the business must verify that any item having a serial number is not stolen property by entering the serial number of the item into the Department of Law Enforcement’s  stolen  article  database located at the Florida Crime Information Center’s public access system website. The business shall record the date and time of such verification on the contract covering the goods. If such verification reveals that an item is stolen property, the business shall immediately remove the item from any website on which it is being offered and notify the appropriate law enforcement agency; or (ii) The business must provide the appropriate law enforcement agency with an electronic copy of the name, address, phone number, driver’s license number, and issuing state of the person with whom the business contracted to offer the goods, as well as an accurate description of the goods, including make, model, serial number, and any other unique identifying marks, numbers, names, or letters that may be on an item, in a format agreed upon by the business and the appropriate law enforcement agency. This information must be provided to the appropriate law enforcement agency within 24 hours after entering into the contract unless other arrangements are made between the business and the law enforcement agency.(b) A business that conducts a sale, rental, or trade of motion pictures or video games, if the business:

1. Requires the sellers of secondhand goods to have a current account with the business;
2. Has on file in a readily accessible format the name, current residential address, home and work telephone numbers, government-issued identification number, place of employment, date of birth, gender, and right thumbprint of each seller of secondhand goods;
3. Purchases secondhand goods from the property owner or his or her representative at the place of business pursuant to an agreement in writing and signed by the property owner which describes the property purchased, states the date and time of the purchase, and states that the seller is the lawful owner of the property;
4. Retains such purchase agreements for not less than 1 year; and
5. Pays for the purchased property in the form of a store credit that is issued to the seller and is redeemable solely by the seller or another authorized user of the seller’s account with that business.