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SALT LAKE CITY — If you've ever had something stolen from your house or car, there's a chance it was sold to a pawn shop.
In Utah, getting back that pawned item has proven to be a challenge over the past couple of years, due to changes in the law.
Many believe the law favors pawn shops, but lawmakers hoped to balance it by passing a new law in 2012. More than a year later, theft victim Brittany Tibbits found herself facing a difficult road to getting back her favorite gadget.
Tibbits loves music and she loves her iPod even more. It's the latest generation in metallic pink and is loaded with apps to make her days run smoothly. Her boyfriend gave it to her as a Christmas gift.
Two months later it was stolen from her bedroom by a family friend, Tibbits said. Within hours, that friend sold it to a pawn shop down the street. When Tibbits went to the pawn shop, she realized it wouldn't be as easy as just asking for it back.
"He absolutely refused," Tibbits said. "He said if I didn't give him $100, I'd have to go through the long, lengthy process to get my own property back."
It just seemed like a lot of work on my end, already being the victim.
–Brittany Tibbits
The laws concerning pawn shops and stolen merchandise have changed quite a bit over the last few years, according to David Spatafore with the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. Those changes have left many people confused.
"We don't want the victim to be victimized again," Spatafore said. "There's no question. The individual who had the merchandise stolen is the rightful owner, but once that secondhand dealer pays money for it, the ownership of that item comes into question."
Three years ago, law dictated that police would have simply taken Tibbits' iPod from the pawn shop. But changes in 2011 gave greater rights to pawn shop owners and let them keep the stolen property unless a resolution was made.
In 2012, the law changed again in hopes of striking a balance, and the victims seem to be better off. However, there are still a few hoops to jump through.
"I wouldn't call it a lot of hoops," said Glen Minson with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection. "In fact, now that it's spelled out in a statue more clearly, it's actually pretty easy."
- Pawnshop must hold the item(s) for 15 days from the original transaction date.
- Any law enforcement agency may place a "hold" on the item.
- Items with a hold placed on them are retained by the pawnshop unless otherwise seized by law enforcement or allocated according to a "property disposition hearing."
First, the victim files a police report. Then, prosecutors ask the court for a property disposition hearing. At that hearing, a judge decides which party gets the stolen property — the pawn shop, police or the victim.
For Tibbits, that process was easier said than done. She said it involved a lot of paperwork and waiting.
"It just seemed like a lot of work on my end, already being the victim," she said.
Tibbits is the first person in Utah to go through the hearing process. More than three months after she started the process, she finally got her iPod back.
"It was sweet glory for me," she said.
If the victim loses in the property disposition hearing, there is a 15-day window to buy the stolen item back from the pawnshop for the amount the shop paid for it.
