(a) No person shall engage in business as a pawnbroker except as authorized in this part and without first obtaining a license from the Mayor as hereinafter provided.

(b) No person, other than a licensee under this part, shall display any sign or other device in or about any business premises, or in any advertising matter, which in any manner resembles the emblem or sign commonly used by pawnbrokers nor display any sign which is calculated to deceive, nor use the word ‘pawnbroker’ in or about any business premises or in any advertising matter, nor shall any such person hold himself out to the public to be a pawnbroker either by advertising, soliciting, signs, or otherwise.

(Aug. 6, 1956, 70 Stat. 1036, ch. 970, § 2; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-171, § 302, 59 DCR 6190.)

1981 Ed., § 2-1902.

1973 Ed., § 2-2002.

D.C. Law 19-171 enacted this subchapter into law.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Government Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.