Pawning; Redemption ; Sale.—On taking a pledge in pawn, a pawnbroker must give to the pawner a pawn-ticket, and lie must not take it in pawn unless the pawner takes the ticket. He may take a profit and charges on a loan on a pledge upon the scale specified below, in the cases and according to the rules stated and prescribed in that scale. He cannot, however, in respect of a loan on a pledge, take any profit, or demand or take any charge or sum whatever, other than those so specified. And, if required at the time of redemption, he must give a receipt for the amount of loan and profit paid to him ; but the receipt is not liable to stamp duty unless the profit amounts to forty shillings or more. Every pledge is bound to be redeemable within twelve months from the day of pawning, exclusive of that day ; and there must be added to that year of redemption seven days of grace, within which every pledge (if not redeemed within the year of redemption) will continue to be redeemable. A pledge pawned for ten shillings, or under, if not redeemed within the ?Tear of redemption and days of grace, thereupon becomes the pawnbrokers absolute property. But one pawned for above that sum further continues redeemable until it is disposed of, as in the Act provided, even though the year of redemption and days of grace are expired ; and when disposed of by the pawnbroker, can only be sold by public auction, subject to the regulations with reference to the sale, as set out below. He can bid for, and purchase at the sale by auction, any pledge pawned with him ; and on making the purchase he becomes the absolute owner of the pledge purchased If an auctioneer does anything in contravention of the provisions of the Act relating to auctioneers, or fails to do anything which he is thereby required to do, he is guilty of an offence. At any time within three years after the auction at which a pledge pawned for above ten shillings is sold, the holder of the pawn-ticket may inspect the entry of the sale in the pawnbroker's book, and in the filled-up catalogue of the auction (authenticated by the signature of the auctioneer) or in either of them. And where a pledge pawned for above ten shillings is sold, and appears from the pawnbroker's book to have been sold for more than the amount of the loan and profit due at the time of sale, the pawnbroker must, on demand, pay the surplus to the holder of the pawn-ticket in case the demand is made within three years after the sale; but the necessary costs and charges of the sale may be first deducted from the surplus. If on the demand the book shows that the sale of a pledge or pledges has resulted in a surplus, and that within twelve months before or after that sale the sale of another pledge or other pledges of the same person has resulted in a deficit, the pawnbroker may set off the deficit against the surplus, and is liable to pay only the balance. A pawnbroker's interest in redeemable pledges may be taken in execution of a judgment of a Court (In re Rollason); but pledges cannot be distrained upon for rent due from the pawnbroker (Swire v. Leach).
A pawnbroker is guilty of an offence if, with respect to pledges for loans of above ten shillings, he—(1) Does not bowi.fide according to the directions of the Act sell a pledge pawned with him ; (2) Enters in his book a pledge as sold for less than the sum fin. which it was sold, or fails duly to enter the same ; (3) Refuses to permit any person entitled under the Act to inspection of an entry of sale in his book, or of a filled-up catalogue of the auction, authenticated by the auctioneer's signature, to inspect the same; (4) Fails without lawful excuse (proof whereof shall lie on him) to produce such a catalogue on lawful demand ; (5) Refuses to pay on demand the surplus to the person entitled to receive the same. On conviction thereof in a Court of summary jurisdiction he is liable to forfeit to the person aggrieved a sum not exceediiig 1310.
Special contracts.—Notwithstanding anything in the Act, a pawnbroker may make a special contract with the pawner in respect of a pledge on which he makes a loan of above forty shillings, provided always that (1) At the time of the pawning he delivers to the pawner a special contract pawn-ticket, signed by himself or his lawful deputy ; (2) A duplicate of the special con tract pawn-ticket is signed bv the pawner. The provisions of the Act, save so far as their application is excluded by the terms of the special contract, will apply thereto. A special contract pawn-ticket, or the duplicate, is not subject to stamp duty. There is nothing in the Act to prevent a pawnbroker recovering from the pawner the amount of any deficit which may result from a sale under a special contract (Jones v. Mar,shall).
Delivery up qf pledge.—The holder for the time being of a pawn-ticket is presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge. Subject to the provisions of the Act, the pawnbroker, on payment of the loan and profit, must deliver the pledge to the person producing the pawn-ticket ; he is specifically indemnified by the Act for so doing. But this indemnity applies only as between the pawnbroker and the pawner, or the oa ner who has authorised the pledge, and therefore does not prejudice the rights of an owner who has not authorised the pledge (.Vinger Marnfacturing C'o. v. Clark).
Accordingly, and notwithstanding section 2 of the Factors Act, the pawn broker is not protected from a claim by the owner in respect of mercantile goods pledged by an agent whose authority is limited to selling (Hastings v. Pearson). A pawnbroker, except as the Act specially provides, is not bound to deliver back a pledge unless the pawn-ticket tiir it is delivered to him. Where a pledge is destroyed or damaged by or in consequence of fire, the pawnbroker is nevertheless liable, on application within the period during which the pledge would have been redeemable, to pay the value of the pledge, after deducting the amount of the loan and profit. Such value is the amount of the loan and profit, and twenty-five per cent. on the amount of the loan. He is entitled to insure to the extent of the value so estimated. Any one entitled and offering to redeem a pledge can recover compensation in case the pledge has become of less value than it was at the time of the pawning thereof by the default, neglect, or wilful misbehaviour of the pawn broker. He must, however, first prove this to a Court of summary juris diction, whereupon the Court has power to award a reasonable satisfaction to the owner of the pledge in respect of the damage ; and the amount so awarded is deducted from the amount payable to the pawnbroker, or must be paid by the pawnbroker (as the case requires) in such manner as the Court directs. In order to protect the owners of articles pawned, and pawners not having their pawn-tickets to produce, the Act contains the following im portant provisions :—(1) Ary person claiming to be the owner of a pledge, but not holding the pawn-ticket, or any person claiming to be entitled to hold a pawn-ticket, but alleging that the same has been lost, mislaid, destroyed, or stolen, or fraudulently obtained from him, may apply to the pawnbroker fora printed form of declaration, which the pawnbroker is bound to deliver to him; (2) If the applicant delivers back to the pawnbroker the declaration duly made before a justice by the applicant, and by a person identifying him, the applicant has thereupon, as between him and the pawn broker, all the same rights and remedies as if he produced the pawn-ticket. But the declaration is not effectual unless it is duly made and delivered back to the pawnbroker not later than on the third day after the day on which the form is delivered to the applicant by the pawnbroker (exclusive of a day or days on which the pawnbroker is prohibited from carrying on business); the declarant is not, however, bound to redeem the pledge immediately, unless, of course, the period for redemption is just about to expire (Burs/em v. Attenborough); (3) The pawnbroker is indemnified by the Act for not delivering the pledge to any person until the expiration of the period aforesaid ; (4) He is further thereby indemnified for delivering the pledge or otherwise acting in conformity with the declaration, unless he has actual or constructive notice that the declaration is fraudulent or is false in any material particular. Any one who makes such a declaration, either as an applicant or as identifying an applicant, knowing it to be false in any material particular, will be guilty of a misdemeanour, and renders hii•self liable to punishment as for perjury. Provision is also made for the recovery by the true owner, from the pawnbroker, of goods unlawfully pledged. Section 30 of the Act runs as follows :—" In each of the following If any person is convicted under this Act in a Court of summary jurisdiction, of knowingly and designedly pawning with a pawnbroker anything being the property of another person, the pawner not being employed or authorised by the owner thereof to pawn the same; (2) If any person is convicted in any Court of feloniously taking or fraudulently obtaining any goods and chattels, and it appears to the Court that the same have been pawned with a pawn broker ; (3) If in any proceedings before a Court of summary jurisdiction it appears to the Court that any goods and chattels brought before the Court have been unlawfully pawned with a pawnbroker, the Court, on proof of the ownership of the goods and chattels, may if it thinks fit order the delivery thereof to the owner, either on payment to the pawnbroker of the amount of the loan or of any part thereof, or without payment thereof or of any part thereof, as to the Court, according to the conduct of the owner and the other circumstances of the case, seems just and fitting." It should be noted, however, in this connection, that after conviction the true owner of stolen property can maintain against a pawnbroker the common law action for conversion, without compensating the pawnbroker (Leicester v. Cherryman). A pawnbroker who without reasonable excuse (proof whereof lies on him) neglects or refuses to de liver a pledge to the person entitled to have delivery of it, is guilty of an offence. A Court of summary jurisdiction may, with or without imposing a penalty, order the delivery of the pledge on payment of the amount of the loan and profit.