Pro's Closet v. City of Boulder

Citations

• 2019 COA 128

Syllabus

Pro's Closet, Inc. is licensed in Boulder as a secondhand dealer under the Boulder Revised Code. It sells used bicycles, bicycle parts, and bicycle gear. Though it has a warehouse in Boulder, Pro's Closet does most of its business online. The Twentieth Judicial District's District Attorney's Office advised the Boulder Police Department to treat Pro's Closet as a \pawnbroker\ under state law. Pro's Closet filed suit, seeking a declaratory judgment that it isn't subject to state pawnbroker laws. The district court concluded that Pro's Closet is a pawnbroker under state law and granted the City of Boulder's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, Pro's Closet argued that the district court erred in ruling that it is a pawnbroker under CRS § 29-11.9-101. A \pawnbroker\ within the meaning of CRS § 29-11.9-101(1), (7), and (8) is an entity that regularly engages either in the business of making contracts for purchase or in the business of making purchase transactions. Here, it is undisputed that Pro's Closet regularly engages in the business of making purchase transactions. It is therefore a \pawnbroker\ under state law. Pro's Closet also argued that Colorado's secondhand dealer statutes are more specifically applicable to its business, so it isn't subject to state pawnbroker laws. There is no conflict between the record-keeping requirements for secondhand dealers in the criminal code and the record-keeping and holding requirements for pawnbrokers in CRS Title 29. The judgment was affirmed.