An Act To Impose a Holding Period during Which a Dealer in Secondhand Precious Metals Must Retain Property
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0732
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: KATZ, FITZPATRICK, DION, GRAHAM
Amends: 30-A MRSA §3972

Legislative Document 
No. 732 
S.P. 270 
In Senate, February 28, 2013 
An Act To Impose a Holding Period during Which a Dealer in 
Secondhand Precious Metals Must Retain Property 
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator KATZ of Kennebec. 
Cosponsored by Representative FITZPATRICK of Houlton, Representative DION of Portland 
and 
Representative: GRAHAM of North Yarmouth. 
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.