Are pawn shops likely to run background checks?
So, when you go into a pawn shop, does the pawn shop run a background check against you or not? Boy, that is a good question that I very frequently hear, if you believe it or not.
A lot of people don’t understand what it is that the pawn shop does when you go into one and give them your ID.
More often than not, a pawn shop actually does not and will not run a background check against you. To be honest, a pawn shop has very little interest about your history, or anything that you may have done in your past.
That really just isn’t something that a pawn shop even has to worry about to begin with. Pawn shops don’t look into your credit when they are determining how much to make a loan for or anything along those lines.
Additionally, they don’t care if you’ve committed crimes in your past, whether they be misdemeanors or felonies. That really isn’t the business of the pawn shop.
Pawn shops are not police departments and don’t really care about things that may have happened in your background.
Do pawn shops run background checks? Most pawn shops have no interest in running a background check, but may legally be required to do things like see your ID.
Why Do Pawn Shops Need Your ID
Well, most of the time a pawn shop needs your ID to identify you so that they know who they are making a loan to and who is authorized to come in and pick up that loan at a later point in time.
Additionally, state laws require that pawn shop’s take your ID to begin with. While that may not be true in all states, it is certainly true in most states.
So with that mind, you have got to understand that a pawn shop is simply taking your ID because they are absolutely required to if they want to operate in accordance with their states laws.
There is no tricky process that they are going through most of the time. Usually, it is just a matter of recording your name, address, date of birth, and a brief description about your parents.
In some cases, pawn shops may be required to take your photo. Additionally, they may be required to scan your fingerprint, but this absolutely has nothing to do with the state ID most of the time and simply as a matter of them obeying state law.
What Does The State Does With This Information
More often than not, a state has no interest in this information. This is purely used by police departments to determine the identity of those who may have been involved with another crime.
However, as we’ve talked about in another posts, it is an incredibly bad idea for you to take anything stolen into a pawn shop to begin with.
Pawn shops report to police departments on a daily basis and because of that, the local police department knows exactly what comes into the pawn shop and may be able to match it up with stolen property.
In these cases, a pawn shop will work with the police department to identify who it was that brought in the merchandise. Therefore, most criminals know not to take in stolen merchandise.
So does anyone have to worry about what they take into a pawn shop? No, absolutely not.
The only time that somebody would have to worry about what they’ve taken to a pawn shop, is if an item was stolen. If the person is otherwise a law-abiding citizen and the merchandise that they are taking into a pawn shops is not stolen or obtained through illegal means, then they have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Normally speaking, the only time a pawn shop looks into an individual or an individual’s transaction is when the merchandise that is described in the transaction matches the description of items that were involved in a theft.
The Bottom Line About Identification And Pawn Shops
The bottom line is this: Your information is going to be protected and actually safe when you go into a pawn shop to make a loan or sell something.
The only people that have access to this information are the pawn shop management, as well as any law enforcement officials in the local area. They are often required to receive reports from the pawn shop on a daily basis about the items that they take in.
Because of this, there is really no risk for you to make a loan or sell something, assuming that the merchandise or items that you’re bringing in are not stolen.
