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An Act To Impose a Holding Period during Which a Dealer in Secondhand Precious Metals Must Retain Property
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §3972  is enacted to read:
§ 3972. Records of sales of secondhand precious metals
 
1.  Records required.     A dealer engaged in the purchase of secondhand precious metals, including a pawnbroker as defined in section 3960, subsection 2, shall record the following information on each bill of sale before completing the purchase of any secondhand precious metals:
 
A.  The date, time and place of receiving the items purchased;
 
B.  The seller's name and address;
 
C.  A complete description of the precious metals purchased from the seller, including any identification numbers, names, initials, serial numbers or identifying marks on each item purchased and the weight;
 
D.  The consideration paid; and
 
E.  A signed statement of ownership from the seller.
 
Before recording the information required by this subsection, a dealer shall require reasonable proof of the seller's identification in the form of a government-issued identification card such as a motor vehicle operator's license or military identification card.
 
For purposes of this section, "precious metals" means any item composed in whole or in part of gold, silver, platinum or palladium except bullion-oriented gold, silver, platinum or palladium coins or bars.
 
2.  Form of records.     The records required under subsection 1 must be kept for a period of one year for the purpose of complying with this section, maintained in order by date of purchase and contained either in a bound volume or ledger or in a binder in which pages can be affixed.
 
3.  Availability for inspection.     Upon request by any law enforcement officer or prosecuting attorney, a dealer in secondhand precious metals shall promptly make available for inspection at the dealer's principal place of business the records required under subsection 1.
 
4.  Holding period.     A dealer in secondhand precious metals shall retain precious metals acquired for a period of at least 10 days following the purchase and may not sell, dispose of or alter the property during that period of time.
 
5.  Violations.     A dealer who knowingly violates any of the requirements of this section or a seller who provides false identification or false statement of ownership to a dealer is guilty of a Class E crime.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires a dealer engaged in the purchase of secondhand precious metals, including pawnbrokers, to record specific information on each bill of sale before completing the purchase of any secondhand precious metals, to maintain these records for one year and to make the records available to law enforcement or a prosecuting attorney. The bill also prohibits a dealer who acquires secondhand precious metals from selling, disposing of or altering the property for a period of 10 days following the purchase.