OFFICEOF THE ATPORNRt
GENERAL
OF TEXAS
AUST3N
.
GERALD C. EIANX
ATTORNES?GESERAL
HonorableGeorgeIi.Sheppard
Comptrolleroi’PubltiAcoounte
' Austin, Te.xs~
Dear slra : OpinionNo. O-4158
Ret Whetherperson, firm or corporation
who engages In businessof lendlng
money throuzhthe “bill of sale”
.~ aystkm is siibibjecf
to proiloloniof
Subd. '13, Art. 7047, R.C.S., tit,
.6146. R.C.S. and Art. 6148. R.&S..
and i%lated~question& -
I
This Is in answer to you??letter of Harch 23, W&2,,
whereln.yourequestthe oplnldnof this ,department In responseto the
following.
questions: : :
_., 18 8 peison,?Zrm Oti,
“1. corporationwho
&gages in the business
of’ lending money throughthe
i
‘billof sale’ system,sub ect to the provlslcins of
~: subdivision13, Article70i7, R.C.S., Article6146,
R.C.S.,and Article6148, R.C.S.?.For example,the
‘billof sale’ system is used’as follows;
“IA,I who wishes to obtain. the. use of a
certain sum OS money for a period of thtity (30) dayye, '.
deliverssome articleof value.to *B’, who will pur- ,‘.
chase the ortlclefOr~.an E~r&d amoi?nt. ‘A’ delivers:
a ball of sale for the artloIs’to IBl with the .verbal
understand- that ‘A* will,have.theprivilegeof se-
..purchao%ngthe same articleon or ‘beforethirty (30) ~. :"
days, at a price equal to ten per.cent more than JA’
received for the articlewhen he sold it to ‘B’.
“2. Has the Comptrollerof”Public Accounts
under Artlole6148, RiC+Si~,
the autholrlty, .to Inspect‘.
or examlnethe books or recordsof’a p@rson, firm or .,
corporatZon,for~thepus?poso of determtilngwhether or
not such person,etc.,,Is en$aged in businessas a
pambroker, as definedby Articlo6146, R.W. a and
therefore liable for,theoccupationtax levladby Sub-~ ~
divlslon13* Article7047, R.C.S.? ','
"2% Under’what conditionsor cfscuiistanuen *
nay this right of,inspectionbo lawfullyexercisedby
_~ the Comptrollerof Public Accounts? ,Iirey it be exercised :
In instance!5where the .Comptrolldr, in his official dis-
ca?etion,has rcaeonablegrounds to believe,under the
&$tendS.ngfaCta and olrcum3t3noe3~ that, a p.erson,firm or ^
HonorableGeorge X. Sheppard,Page 2 -corn* G-13158
corporation13 engaged In such buslncss,althoughsuch
person,firm or corporation,dcnlen that such buslnese
13 be%ng pursued and refuse3access to the records?"
.._.
_,
.. . ._
Subdivision13, Article7047,R.C.S., provldeothat an
nrnual occupationtax of one hundredand fifty dollarsshall be collecte
from every p3wnbroker.
Article 6146,R.C.S.,definesa gownbrokeras follows:
'A ~poxnbrolcer
1s one who pursuesthe buslneon
of lendingmonoy upon Interestand reoolvingupon deposit
anypersonal propertyas security.forthe paymentof 3uch.
loan end interest.*
!Phewords "pawn“and "pledge"mcen the s2rzzthing, 33
Tcx.Al?.687. Under our statuteto pawn or pledgepropcrQ mean3 to
&posit It ulth a oredltorto securethe oymentof a debt,
WCC of SMth vs. Anderson,27 S.W.775,t Tex. Clv. Apn 18D1nh:&q
tkt a transfer of dock. on the books of a corporation*io 3&1m th;
paymentof a loan nlth interest,tho*ugh 3uch transfer ~~33 absoluteon
~3 a pI,edgeand not a 3ale, the court sald:
lts.,r"acei
"The characterof the transactionbetween the
parties 13 to be dctermlnedby-their intention,znd it
zsttersnot what languege~lsxsed, or what the Form or
‘iz txatPer was, If It na8 lnten~edto secure the na -
ment of money it m3t be construeaas a pled?+
it necessarythat the conolderatlonbe a pre~e~l3tlng
lndebtednes3;it Is aufflclentlf It be a presentadvanoe-
ment: (Italicsoura)
The f&&s statedby you ungueatlonablypresent a debtor-
;rei;torrelatlonshlpas opposedto the relatlonshlpof vendorland'
ez 6; St i’ollo~that under the law, a8 statedln Smith v. Anderson,
supra,a person,f%rm or CorpOratlonwho engages111the businessoi'
lendingmoney through,the"blllof sale" systema8 Illustratedby your
examplo.13&gaged ln the buolnessHOPa pavanbroker
a3 definedby
Artlole6146,R.&S.
Article 6148,R.C.S.,read8 as follows:
"I&h pawnbrokershall keep a well bound book,
to be kept open for inspectionin which he shall register
all his transactions03 a broker at th3 tine the same
occur3. Such registershall show:
“1. An aoouratedesorlptionof the artlcol
pawned.
9. l?rora
whom received.'
"3. The tl.meand the amount for which the artl-
cle I3 pawned; Lt3 probablevalue and the rate of interest
agreedupon.
"4. The final dl3posltlonmade of such property,
and lf sold to whom sold and the amount for which each
articzewas sold," .,
Jionorable
QcorgePi.Sheppard, Page 3 O-4158
This articleauthorizesthe Comptrollerof Public Ac-
counta,or any other Interestedparty to intpcctthe books there-
r-eqzlr-dto be kept. It will be noted, hovcver,t%t the provlsiox
Article6148 apply only to pambrokers.
UT i-.‘zh zii31CGDhe is e?GnZcd ~
zr,the buclneasof a pambroker one is not ,‘equixdto keep such a
0~: of books, and unless he I8 engagedin such buslneas,this article
~VCC no omthe prlvilcge of lnsgoctlii his boo!a. vi?nust annoxer
Gour cuestlons2 and 2a thuat As a conditiongecedent.to lnc~ectlon
‘;frhd books requiredto begkept by Artlclc’. 6148, R.C.S., it mzot be
establlnhodthat the perroon whose books are to be inspectedlo engaged
irrthe buslmss of a pawnbroker,and Is roqulredby such articleto
her, said books. It fellows that auoh books .,could not be cxazxined
w&r the authoFitvof said articlefor the ~urw3e of dc?temSnl~~
wdther he isengqed In the businessof a p&&roker.
Yours very truly
,. . _
‘. By &T?ovlor Roberts
i?owlorRobeots
Assistant
fEi:eJ:wo
APPROVRDAPRlL 8, 15~42 ,, ‘,:
0/ &over Sellers
FIRST ASSISTANT .~
AT’%ZX3! CiENERi% ,-
Apprwed Opinion Connaietee
Ry s/lWR Chafman