How to Recover Stolen Property From a Pawn Shop

[silvereagle]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: NEW JERSEY My question involves personal property located in the State of: NEW JERSEY,HEELO. I was robbed last week and think my stuff has been located at a pawn shop,are the police correct in I MUST BUY MY STOLEN ITEMS BACK? PLEASE TELL ME THEY ARE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS CANNOT BE THE LAW! HELP ME PLEASE,

[Mr. Knowitall]

You "think" it's your stuff. But you don't know? What legal basis do you imagine would allow you to walk into a pawn shop or consignment store and say, "I think that's my stolen property, so I'm going to take it from you without paying"?

Presumably the police are following up on the pawn shop's records to try to identify the person who pawned the items, right?

[silvereagle]

YES,that is correct they have a lead that items were take to this certain pawn shop,I have given them pictures of the said items and I assumed since this coin set is extremely rare and I was the person who called the police with the said information of who took the stuff,that I was hoping that the said items would be returned,then the pawn owner would go after the criminals for re-imbursement? please help

also they ahve a date and time when the items were taken,we also found out the person who might have taken them there!so we are hoping things come back

[PandorasBox]

I would ask the police to have the pawn shop remove the coins from the sales area and hold them until the situation can be worked out. If they won't do that, I think you will have to buy them back (unless you want someone else to buy them first).

This is not legal advice, just logic.

[free9man]

Some pawn shops have a waiting period before they offer the item(s) for sale to give the owner the chance to buy the item(s) back. Many times it is dictated by law. If you saw the coins on the main floor, odds are that that time has expired. You could buy them back and try to sue the thief once they are convicted, or try to have it the money you spent added as restitution on their sentence.
The bottom line is, how important are these coins to you? Are you willing to risk someone else strolling into the shop and getting them.

[silvereagle]

I have asked the owner about the main collection,these are very rare!maybe 6,000 in the world were ever made he told that he doesnt know anything about them?so i have to wait for the police to contact him and ask him to please hold the set.I was also informed that in pennsyvania,not new jersey that the items go back to the rightful owner the owner goes after the criminals?I dont know about new jersey?I know I wont get everything back but the JACKIE ROBINSON COLLECTION IS SUPER RARE! I can only prey I get them back.

[silvereagle]

ok they caught 2 people who had reciepts of some of the stolen coins,it has been only 4 days,does new jersey law like pennsyvania reguire the pawn owner to return the items to the rightful person and go after the criminals who were arrested?

[free9man]

I'm having some trouble actually finding New Jersey's regs on this.
I have however found that you are mistaken about Pennsylvania. The current state regulations require that the owner of the stolen property to buy it back and go after the thief for restitution. From my reading there is sometimes confusion about this but it is the law.

[silvereagle]

I'm having some trouble actually finding New Jersey's regs on this.
I have however found that you are mistaken about Pennsylvania. The current state regulations require that the owner of the stolen property to buy it back and go after the thief for restitution. From my reading there is sometimes confusion about this but it is the law.

State Representative Vanessa Brown has proposed legislation in Harrisburg that would change the pawn shop laws so that theft victims would get their property back for free and it would be the pawn shop owners who would have to try and seek restitution from the criminals. I hope new jersey are changed to match this legislation,also texas has the this law.

[free9man]

I have read about the proposed changes. Your previous posts would lead one to believe that current Pennsylvania law requires the pawn shop owner to return stolen merchandise to its rightful owner. That is not true. The current law, however unfair one might deem it, requires that the owner pay the pawn shop for their property and then try to get their money back if the thieves are caught.
If your situation was occurring in Pennsylvania right now...all you could do is ask to buy the coins back. You could not claim any legal ground for forcing the pawn shop to give you your property.