Pawnshops

Pawnbrokers are a business that have existed for hundreds of years, and are a legally approved business in the State of South Carolina and Horry County. However, pawnbrokers are regulated by local, state, and federal law. To review the laws that regulate pawnbrokers, please click on the links below.

In South Carolina, the Department of Consumer Affairs regulates and administers pawnbrokers. For questions and answers regarding state pawn law and regulations, or to file a complaint about a pawnshop, please contact:
SC Department of Consumer Affairs
3600 Forest Dr, 3rd floor
Columbia, SC, 29250
800-922-1594

Contact us for questions regarding pawn shops:
Lynn Baker
2560 N. Main St, St 7
Conway, SC 29526
lbaker@horrycounty.org
843-915-8056

Links

SC Pawn Law

Horry County Pawn Ordinance

https://www.consumer.sc.gov/business-resourceslaws/licensing/pawnbrokers

SC Pawnshop Complaint Form

My car or home was burglarized and my property was stolen. What should I do?

1. Call the police, and file a police report. Let the police investigate to identify common patterns with other crimes and attempt to locate your property and the suspect.
2. Search the local area pawnshops after one week has expired.
3. SC law requires pawnshops to keep all newly obtained property in the back on hold before it can be sold. This gives law enforcement one week to determine if any of the property has been reported stolen.
4. Be polite and respectful to the pawnshop employees. Ask for their cooperation, but they are not required to release any customer information to the public.
5. Ask if they had any similar property to your stolen property pawned within the last week.
6. Look around the public displays for your stolen property after one week.
7. If you believe you found one of your stolen items, take the property to the manager, and notify the local law enforcement to respond for further investigation.

What should I do if I suspect my stolen property is at a pawnshop?

1. If you know which pawnshop your property is located, proceed to the pawnshop, and ask to speak to the manager.
2. Explain that you are victim of a theft, and you believe your property is located there.
3. Be polite and respectful to the pawnshop manager, and ask for their cooperation.
4. If you have the full name of the suspect, ask the manager to check his customer database. Explain you are not requesting social security number, date of birth, or driver’s license number. You are only attempting to verify if the suspect pawned your stolen property.
5. If you’re stolen property is located, contact local law enforcement immediately to file a police report and further investigation.

I have a suspect’s full name (first and last name) or know who stole my property, and they admit to taking my stolen property to the pawnshop, what can I do?

1. Obtain the pawn receipt from the suspect, which would list the suspects name, your stolen property, and pawnshop business name and address.
2. Go to the pawnshop and call the local law enforcement police to meet you there. Wait for the police to arrive.
3. File a police report with officer and give the pawn receipt to the officer.
4. The officer will coordinate the investigation and retrieval of your stolen property.

I went to the pawnshop, but the pawnshop refused or declined to assist me, what can I do?

Be polite and respectful to the pawnshop employees. Ask for their cooperation, but they are not required to release any customer information to the public.

What information is the pawnshop required to obtained from the customer?

According to SC law, a pawnshop must obtain full name, address, identification card number, date of birth, and full description of the property sold by the customer.

Why can’t I obtain my stolen property immediately?

The SC law permits a 10 day hold on stolen property. After the 10 day hold, the property can be released if the pawnshop business does not file a complaint in magistrates court.

The pawnshops instructed me to contact the police to search the police computers for my stolen property?

Yes, contact or respond to your local law enforcement agency, and the officer can search the police computers which have access to the pawnshops records.