pawn shop database

[Jim Hilburn]

I listed a banjo as stolen from a friend in the classifieds.
I looked up pawnshop database in Google and it seems like there's a lot of pay services but I'm wondering if there's any official listing for stolen items.

[Scotti Adams]

Jim...when I had my Herringbone stolen recently the Police told me that once there was a police report made that it would be entered into a national data base accessible by pawn shops to cross reference possible stolen goods. I had one pawn shop tell me this as well. What I didnt like is the owners would not/could not tell me over the phone if there had been a Herringbone hawked...dunno if this was BS but they all adhered to the same notion.

[Jim Hilburn]

That's what I was looking for. Thanks, Scotti.
Oh,yeah,while I've got you, could you beam me up?

[Scotti Adams]

That's what I was looking for. Thanks, Scotti.
Oh,yeah,while I've got you, could you beam me up?

I wish I had a manlin for everytime I heard that :-)

[JeffD]

Jim...when I had my Herringbone stolen recently .

Has it been recovered yet?


I have never had an instrument stolen - it would really hack me off were it to happen.

[Jim Hilburn]

I can't believe I wasn't the first!

[Scotti Adams]

Has it been recovered yet?


I have never had an instrument stolen - it would really hack me off were it to happen.

Yes..I got it back. But I have to tell you it wasnt because of law enforcments effort. It was because of my efforts.

[JeffD]

It was because of my efforts.

Nobody is more motivated to retrieve the instrument than the one who lost it.

[terzinator]

Yes..I got it back. But I have to tell you it wasnt because of law enforcments effort. It was because of my efforts.
Is there a story? I've never had an instrument stolen, but a few other things (bike, stereo, computer), so I'm really intrigued by what you could have done to get it back!

[Scotti Adams]

Yes there is a story..one that I would rather not go into due to legalities. Lets just say that the Social Media is a great thing. My case is unique in the fact that I had a good idea who had stolen it. It was a matter of tracking him down and putting the screws to him. It did end up in a pawn shop and the culprits father paid the fee and hand delivered it to my father. I was lucky.

[sunburst]

...the Police told me that once there was a police report made that it would be entered into a national data base accessible by pawn shops to cross reference possible stolen goods...

I notice that says "accessible by pawn shops", and it seems to me there no reason to suspect that pawn shops will access the data base just because they can. Is that data base accessible to us too? If not, isn't there something like a "freedom of info act" that could be called upon to make the information available so we could search for our stolen property? If the info on a stolen instrument goes into a data base accessible to the public, it could be a problem for pawn shops to display stolen property for sale and perhaps more of them would check the data base before buying, and there'd be at least one good reason to file a police report! I suppose the pawn shop would be under no obligation to report someone hawking stolen property even if they check the data base and don't buy, though.

[Scotti Adams]

John..I dont believe the said data base is public. You raise some good points. But if I were a PS owner I would check that list all the time. Wouldnt want to get busted for having stolen property.

[Bill Snyder]

State laws vary, but it is my understanding in Texas that pawn shops here MUST check to see if items are stolen or not. Having said that I do not know how (or if) that law is enforced. I know that they can not immediately put an item out to be sold even when they purchase it outright. This is ostensibly to give the pawn shops and law enforcement time to check the data base.
When my brother's house was broken into the only items recovered from the pawn shops was because his wife started checking the pawn shops herself and saw the items for sale several weeks after the break-in.

[Bill Snyder]

John..I dont believe the said data base is public. You raise some good points. But if I were a PS owner I would check that list all the time. Wouldnt want to get busted for having stolen property.

Another point here is that when a stolen item is found the pawn shop forfeits the item and it is supposed to go back to the rightful owner.
We found that out when we purchased a trumpet for one of my sons when he was in middle school. We took the trumpet into a local music store to have some work done to it. Turns out the trumpet had previously been purchased on a payment plan from that store. The original purchaser made a few payments then quit making anymore. They pawned the trumpet. We purchased it. The store still had legal ownership. Fortunately for us they agreed to let us keep the trumpet and they got their money from the pawn shop.

[sunburst]

...if I were a PS owner I would check that list all the time. Wouldnt want to get busted for having stolen property.

Somehow, my perhaps prejudiced opinion is that there are pawn shop owners who don't think that way.

[mandodan1960]

My understanding is that there's a strong motivation to make sure they don't take in stolen merchandise but once they have items in their possession then no motivation at all to inform you the caller that they now have it. At that point they are at risk of losing whatever they have invested in it. Should u be able to prove it's yours.

[Scotti Adams]

Somehow, my perhaps prejudiced opinion is that there are pawn shop owners who don't think that way.

Yea....just like any other occupation Im sure there are crooks in this biz as well.