Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1715
Committee Amendment CA_B_S408 (Senate)
Amends: 15 MRSA §456, 32 MRSA §291

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ~" to S.P. 647, L.D. 1715, Bill, "An 
Act To Facilitate the Recovery of Stolen Property" 
Amend the bill by inserting before section 1 the following: 
'Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §456, as repealed and replaced by PL 1981, 
c. 232, is repealed.' 
Further amend the bill by striking out all of section 4 and 
inserting in its place the following: 
'Sec. 4. 30-A MRSA c.183, sub-c. 7 is enacted to read: 
SUBCHAPTER 7 
DEALERS IN USED PERSONAL PROPERTY 
§397l. 
Sales of used personal property 
1. 
Definitions. 
As 
used in this subchapter, unless the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings. 
A. 
"Dealer in us~d personal property" or "dealer" means a 
consignment merchant, a merchant or a secondhand dealer but 
does not include a pawnbroker as defined in section 3960, 
subsection 2 or a junk collector. 
B. 
"Used personal property" means and is limited to the 
following: 
watches; 
diamonds, 
gems 
and 
other 
precious 
stones; 
fishing rods, 
reels and tackle; 
audio and video 
Page l-LR2430(3) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ~, to S.P. 647, L.D. 1715 
electronic equipment, 
including television sets, 
compact 
disc 
players, 
radios, 
amplifiers, 
receivers, 
turntables, 
audio tape recorders, video tape recorders, 
speakers and 
citizens' band radios; computer equipment; radar detectors; 
depth finders; trolling motors; outboard motors; sterling 
silver flatware and serving pieces; photographic equipment, 
including 
cameras, 
video 
and 
film 
cameras, 
lenses, 
electronic 
flashes, 
tripods 
and 
developing 
equipment; 
microwave ovens; animal fur coats; marine equipment; video 
gamfls and cartridges; power lawn and landscape equipment, 
including lawn mowflrs; office equipment, including COpiflrs, 
fax machines and postage machines but excluding furniture; 
sports equipment. including golf clubs; wflapons, including 
firearms, knives, swords and air guns; telephones, including 
cellular 
and 
cordless; 
tools; 
calculators; 
musical 
instrument$, 
excluding 
piano$ 
and 
organs; 
bicycle$; 
typewriter$; 
motor 
vehicle$; 
gold, 
silver, 
platinum 
and 
other 
precious 
metals, 
excluding 
coins; 
and 
jewelry, 
excluding costume jewelry. 
2. Records required. Every dealer in used personal property 
$hall record the 
following information before completing the 
purchase of any used personal proPflrty: 
A. The date of the purchase; 
B. The seller'$ name and addrflss; and 
C. 
A brief description of 
the property, 
including 
any 
identification numbers. 
Before recording the information required by this subsection, a 
dealer shall require reasonable written proof of the seller's 
identification in the form of a motor vehicle operator's license, 
military identification card, adult liquor identification card or 
similar item. 
3. Form of records. The records required by sub$ection 1 
must be kept for the purpo$e of complying with this section, 
maintained in ordflr by date of purchase and contained either in a 
bound volume or ledger or in a binder in which pages can be 
affixed. 
4. Weekly report. A dealer in used personal property shall 
file with the law enforcement agency of jurisdiction, in a form 
acceptable to that agency, a summary of tran$action$ entered into 
during the preceding week, including a description of the used 
personal property. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT~' to S.P. 647, L.D. 1715 
5. 
Time limit. 
A dealer may not sell or dispose of in any 
manner any used personal property less than 10 days after receipt 
of that property by the dealer. 
6. Violations. A dealer who violates any of the reguirements 
of this section or a seller who provides false identification to 
a dealer is guilty of a Class E crime. 
Sec. 5. 32 MRSA §291, sub-§l, 1fC, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 
146, §5, is amended to read: 
C. 
Failure to comply with or properly maintain records 
required by Title l§ 30-A, section 4§§ 3971:' 
Further amend the bill 
nonconsecutive 
consecutively. 
Part 
letter 
by relettering 
or 
section 
or renumbering 
number 
to 
any 
read 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the minority report of the committee. 
The 
amendment 
moves existing statutory requirements 
for recording 
information concerning the purchase of used goods out of the 
Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 15 
and into Title 
30-A. 
The 
amendment leaves provisions in the bill that concern pawnbrokers 
and retains requirements that impose on dealers in used personal 
property a 
10-day waiting period on resale of that personal 
property and weekly reporting requirements. 
The amendment also 
defines 
and limits 
the 
term 
"used personal property" 
to 
a 
specific list of categories of items. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT