As used in the Pawnbrokers Act:

A. "pawnbroker" means a person engaged in the business of making pawn transactions;

B. "pawn service charge" means the sum of all charges, payable directly or indirectly by the pledgor and imposed directly or indirectly by the pawnbroker as an incident to the pawn transaction;

C. "pawnshop" means the location or premises at which a pawnbroker regularly conducts his business;

D. "pawn transaction" means either the act between a pawnbroker and a person pledging a good of lending money or extending credit on the security of pledged goods or of purchasing tangible personal property with an express or implied agreement or understanding that it may be redeemed or repurchased by the seller at a stipulated price;

E. "person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture, trust, association or any other legal entity however organized;

F. "pledged goods" means tangible personal property other than choses in action, securities or printed evidences of indebtedness, which property is deposited with or otherwise actually delivered into the possession of a pawnbroker in the course of his business in connection with the pawn transaction;

G. "local law enforcement agency" means the chief of police, his designee, or the police department if applicable to a municipality, or the county sheriff, his designee, or the county sheriff's department if applicable to a county; and

H. "local government" means a municipality or county.

History: Laws 1985, ch. 228, § 2.

"Pawn service charge". — A storage fee of $30, charged by pawnbroker at the beginning of each pawn transaction, was, in fact, a "pawn service charge" and was illegal because it exceeded the maximum set forth in this chapter. Yazzie v. Ray Vicker's Special Cars, Inc., 12 F. Supp. 2d 1230 (D.N.M. 1998).