§ 93-43 — Operating Regulations for all Recycling, Salvaging or Towing Premises

93-43. Operating Regulations for all Recycling, Salvaging or Towing Premises.

1. IDENTIFICATION. No licensee shall purchase any junk, valuable metals, or salvage motor vehicles without first obtaining adequate identification from the seller. 2. TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING PROPERTY NOT OWNED. No licensee shall purchase any property if any of the following is true: a. The article of property is not owned by the person offering to sell the property. b. The article of property is the property of a person other than the person offering to sell it, regardless of whether the transaction is occurring with the permission of the owner. c. Another person, other than the person offering to sell the property, has a security interest in the article of property. 3. EXCEPTION. Subsection 2 shall not apply to any person selling, consigning, leaving or depositing any article of property with or to a licensed recycling, salvaging or towing premises if the person is any of the following: a. A duly executed power of attorney for the owner of the property. b. A personal representative of the estate to which the property belongs. c. The recipient of a lawful written authorization to pledge, sell, consign, leave or deposit the property issued by the owner of the property prior to the time of the transaction. 4. ALTERED OR OBLITERATED SERIAL NUMBER. No licensee shall receive any regulated property with an altered or obliterated serial number, or from which a serial number has been removed. 5. REGULATED PROPERTY, DOCUMENTATION. No licensee shall purchase any regulated property unless the licensee receives from the seller documentation, such as a bill of sale, receipt, letter of authorization or similar evidence, which establishes that the seller lawfully possesses the regulated property. This documentation shall be retained for one year. Licensees may forego the documentation requirements of this subsection if either of the following is true: a. The licensee documents that he or she has made a diligent inquiry into whether the person selling the regulated property has the legal right to do so, and, not later than one business day after purchasing the regulated property, submits a report to the chief of police describing the regulated property and submits a copy of the seller’s or deliverer’s adequate identification. b. The licensee takes a color photograph or color video recording of the regulated property, as provided in sub. 8. 6. PURCHASE FROM MINORS PROHIBITED. No licensee shall purchase or accept any material or article from any individual less than 18 years of age without the written consent of the individual’s parent or guardian. 7. RECORDKEEPING, GENERAL. Every licensee shall keep on his or her premises a transaction description record, in a form approved by the chief of police or the chief’s designee, for any valuable metal purchased or received. The transaction description record shall be numbered consecutively at the time of the purchase and shall be maintained and open for inspection by the chief of police, or the chief’s designee, at any reasonable time for one year after the date of purchased or receipt. The transaction description record shall include each of the following: a. A transaction number. b. The date and time of the transaction. c. The printed name and permanent address of the person from whom the article was purchased or received, a copy of that person’s adequate identification and a color photograph or color video recording of the person that meets the standards of sub. 11. d. The seller's vehicle license plate number and state of issuance, if applicable. e. A description of the individual property purchased or received, to be consistent with guidelines promulgated by a national recycling industry trade organization and to be approved by the chief of police. f. A signed, written declaration of ownership from the seller, separate and apart from any computerized records maintained, in a form approved by the chief of police. g. The seller's signature. 8. RECORDKEEPING, REGULATED PROPERTY. For regulated property, in addition to the information required in sub. 7, the transaction description record shall include a full and accurate description of each article purchased or received, including identifying letters or marks written, inscribed or otherwise included on the article and the name and maker of the article, if known. A color photograph or color video recording of the regulated property, taken at the time of purchase or receipt and meeting the standards of sub. 11, shall fulfill this requirement. 9. RECORDKEEPING, VEHICLE SALVAGE. a. Records kept under the provisions of s. Trans 136.03, Wis. Adm. Code, as amended, shall be satisfactory compliance with the transaction description requirements of sub. 7, and shall at reasonable times be open to the inspection of the chief of police, or any member of the police department designated by the chief of police for this purpose. b. The purchase or receipt of any motor vehicle parts or pieces thereof previously attached to a salvaged vehicle shall not be exempt from the recordkeeping requirements provided in this section. 10. RECORDKEEPING, WHOLE-SALE AND BULK PURCHASES. a. A licensee may choose to limit the transaction description record for wholesale and bulk purchases to a listing of the quantity or the weight purchased according to the guidelines provided in sub. 7-e, and not of individual items, provided that either of the following is true: a-1. A color video recording meeting the standards of sub. 11 is taken of the individual items purchased, as they are being unloaded. a-2. The seller is a regularly established foundry, mill, manufacturer, licensed home improvement contractor, as defined in s. 95-14, licensed recycling, salvaging or towing premises, or educational, governmental or medical institution, and is in compliance with all other applicable requirements of this subsection, provided that the record of the purchase states the seller’s license number or other identifying information. b. A licensee presented or finding any undisclosed regulated property in any wholesale or bulk purchase, or any property which is reasonably believed to be stolen, shall immediately report this property to the police. 11. PHOTOGRAPHS. Photographs required as part of this subchapter shall be at least 2 inches square. Photographs and video recordings shall be time and date-stamped and maintained so they can be readily matched and correlated with all other records of a transaction. All photographs and video recordings shall be available to the chief of police, or the chief's designee, upon request. The major portion of a photograph or a video recording of a person shall include an identifiable facial image. Property photographed or video-recorded shall be accurately depicted, of sufficient quality and from a clear and unobstructed perspective, as determined by the chief of police. The licensee shall inform the person that he or she is being photographed or video-recorded by displaying a sign of sufficient size in a conspicuous place on the premises. The licensee shall keep the photograph or video recording for 90 days. 12. REPORTS. a. All transaction description records for regulated property, except for signed declarations of ownership and patron signatures on transaction description records, shall be reported not later than the close of each business day by posting and uploading all transaction description records to an electronic reporting database approved by the chief of police, according to the protocols of the chief of police. b. Protocols for submitting batch data shall reasonably accommodate various mainstream data processing systems used by licensees, to the extent possible. c. The police department may delay, reduce or forego daily reporting requirements as the chief of police, or the chief's designee, sees fit without cause. 13. CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS. The police chief may permit a licensee to substitute a customer identification number, or other seller identifier assigned by the licensee, for a seller’s name, address, date of birth, and all identification obtained from the seller as specified in sub. 7, provided the licensee maintains a file containing this information for police inspection. 14. GOODS HELD FOR IDENTIFICATION. The chief of police may, at his or her discretion, cause any items which he or she has reason to believe were sold or exchanged by a person other than the lawful owner to be held, for identification by its lawful owner, for such reasonable length of time as the chief deems necessary. 15. INSPECTION. Every article purchased by a recycling, salvaging or towing premises, and every computerized file, written document and invoice of transaction description records shall be available for inspection by the chief of police, or the chief’s designee, at any reasonable time. 16. FALSE INFORMATION. No person selling any property to any licensee shall: a. Give a false or fictitious name, present false or altered identification documents, give a false date of birth or give a false address of residence or telephone number to the licensee gathering information for a transaction description record. b. Knowingly conceal or fail to disclose any regulated property contained within a wholesale or bulk purchase. c. Pawn, pledge, sell, consign, leave or deposit any article of property with or to a business licensed under this chapter if one or more of the following is true: c-1. The article of property is not owned by the person. c-2. The article of property is the property of another, regardless of whether the transaction is occurring with the permission of the owner. c-3. Another person has a security interest in the article of property. 17. SIGNAGE. Every licensee shall display a sign, in a form approved by the chief of police or the chief’s designee, of sufficient size and in a conspicuous place on the premises, informing patrons that all transactions are reported electronically to the police department. The sign shall include the premises’ license number. Identifying signs that satisfy state statutory or regulatory requirements for signage shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this subsection. 18. NOT TO CREATE NUISANCE. a. No goods or materials associated with a recycling, salvaging or towing premises shall be stored, sorted, assembled, disassembled, displayed or otherwise kept on any public right-of-way, public street, alley, sidewalk, or public parking area. All goods and materials shall be kept within a building, enclosure or site approved on a licensee’s application. b. All lights used to illuminate premises shall be shielded and directed away from public streets and residential properties in such a way as not to create a glare into the public street or surrounding premises used for residential purposes, or to disturb the comfort of persons living across therefrom or on adjacent property.