FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2022
CAPA is proud to announce that Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1317 (Bradford) to prevent our customers’ personal identifying information from being stored in the DOJ’s California Pawn and Secondhand Dealer System (CAPSS). CAPA also wishes to thank Senator Steve Bradford who authored SB 1317 and advocated for its passage among legislators in the final weeks of the Legislative Session.
Pawnbrokers provide a valuable source of short-term credit to individuals who may not otherwise have credit, savings, or money to pay for an unexpected expense such as a car repair or medical emergency. According to a 2019 report, at least 9 million households in the United States are “unbanked”, and consumers with credit scores below 650 made up approximately 28% of the United States population. Pawnbrokers are essentially the “financial safety net” for this population, as everyone who seeks a pawn loan can borrow money regardless of creditworthiness.
Under existing law, the personal identifying information of pawn customers must be reported to the State’s Department of Justice and stored within the CAPSS database. Pawnbrokers have been concerned for years that law enforcement has used the CAPSS system to track individuals rather than stolen items. Furthermore, we been alarmed by the number of high-profile data breaches which have exposed hundreds of millions of Americans to identity theft. If the personal information of our borrowers was to be exposed, the impact of identity theft would be especially devastating. With the passage of SB 1317 into law, pawnbrokers will report “items only” and all transactions will be confidential unless an item is alleged to be lost or stolen.
Pawnbrokers can now assure our customers that their transactions are” strictly confidential” stated Jan Schneider, President of CAPA. “CAPA is proud to have initiated this change in law to safeguard the personal information of our customers and protect them from the growing threat of identity theft and other predatory schemes.”
Pawnbrokers will still be required to collect the personal information of pawn customers which includes finger-prints, government identification and a home address. In the event an item is alleged to be stolen, this information will be available upon request by law enforcement.
“We continue to support the goal of the CAPSS system - assisting law enforcement with cases involving property theft,” stated Tony DeMarco, Legislative Chair. “However, protecting property should not outweigh the importance of protecting our customers. SB 1317 achieves the balance of protecting both. Now we will report items only.”
