70
STAT.]
Public Law 653
491
PUBLIC LAW 653-JULY 3, 1956
CHAPTER 511
AN ACT To amend section 7 of "An Act making appropriations to provide for the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other purposes", approved July 1, 1902, as amended.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That paragraph numbered 39 of section 7 of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations to provide for the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other purposes", approved July 1, 1902, as amended (sec. 47-2339, D. C. Code, 1951 edition), is amended to read as follows: "PAR. 39. (a) The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized and empowered to classify dealers in secondhand personal property (referred to in this paragraph 39 as 'dealers') and to fix and collect a license fee for each such class of dealer, which fee, in the judgment of the Commissioners, will be commensurate with the cost to the District of Columbia of inspection, supervision, and regulation of such class of dealer, "(b) In classifying dealers the Commissioners may take into consideration the kind of property dealt in, whether the property is retained by the dealer for sale at retail, whether the property is disposed of by the dealer out of the District of Columbia, whether the property is disposed of by the dealer as junk or otherwise, and such other criteria as the Commissioners may deem appropriate. "(c) Any person engaging in the business of buying, selling, trading, exchanging, or dealing in secondhand personal property of any description, including the return of unused portion of any ticket, order, or token purporting to evidence the right of the holder or possessor thereof to be transported by any railroad or other common carrier, however operated, from one State or Territory of the United States, or from the District of Columbia, to any other State or Territory of the United States or to the District of Columbia, shall be regarded as a dealer, and shall obtain the appropriate license and pay the fee therefor fixed by the Commissioners. For the purposes of this paragraph 39, the term 'secondhand personal property' shall not include any item of personal property (1) which the possessor thereof has acquired as part payment or allowance on the sale by such possessor of a new or rebuilt item of personal property, (2) which the possessor thereof has acquired by reason of its return to him for credit, refund, or exchange by a person having purchased such item from such possessor, or (3) which is offered for sale, trade, or exchange by the person who repossesses the same. " (d) When any property has been stolen and sold in the District of Columbia to a dealer under such circumstances that the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, after such dealer has been afforded a hearing, are satisfied that such dealer had cause to believe, or could have ascertained by reasonable inquiry or investigation that the property was stolen, and that the dealer did not make reasonable inquiry or investigation as to the title of the seller before making the purchase, the Commissioners are authorized an4 directed to revoke the license of such dealer; and this action shall not be a bar to criminal prosecution for receiving stolen goods: Provided, That nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed as prohibiting the Commissioners from suspending or revoking the license of such dealer under the authority contained in paragraph numbered 46 of this section." SEC. 2. Paragraph 46 of section 7 of such Act is amended (a) by inserting the designation " (a) " immediately before the first sentence
July 3, 1956 [H. R. 6782]
D. C. s e c o n d hand dealersa
47 Stat. 558. Authority of Commissioners.
Classification.
L i c e n s e and f e e.
Stolen property.
47 Stat. 563. D. C. C o d e 472345.
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