367.046. Procedure to reclaim purchase price of misappropriated goods.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

367.046. Procedure to reclaim purchase price of misappropriated goods.

Procedure to reclaim purchase price of misappropriated goods.

367.046. 1. To obtain from a pawnbroker the amount of purchase fortangible personal property which a purchaser claims was misappropriatedprior to the purchase, the purchaser shall file a petition in a court ofcompetent jurisdiction in the county where the pawnbroker's pawnshop islocated, requesting the return of the purchase amount, naming thepawnbroker as a defendant and serving the pawnbroker with the petition.The provisions of section 482.305, RSMo, to the contrary notwithstanding, acourt of competent jurisdiction shall include a small claims court, even ifthe purchase amount named in the petition is greater than three thousanddollars. Upon receiving notice that a petition has been filed by apurchaser for the amount of purchase, the purchaser shall hold thepurchased property until the right to possession is resolved by the partiesor by a court of competent jurisdiction, unless such property is subject toa hold order for law enforcement purposes and a law enforcement officer hasprovided written acknowledgment that the property has been released to theofficer.

2. Upon being served notice that a petition has been filed pursuantto this section, the pawnbroker may return the amount of purchase to thepurchaser prior to a decision being rendered on the purchaser's petition bythe court. The pawnbroker shall return the amount of purchase to thepurchaser conditioned only upon the purchaser withdrawing the petitionfiled with a court of competent jurisdiction seeking the disposition ofsuch property. The provisions of this section to the contrarynotwithstanding, the pawnbroker shall not be required to pay any costsincurred by the purchaser and the purchaser shall not be required to payany costs incurred by the pawnbroker when the amount of purchase isreturned to the purchaser pursuant to this subsection.

3. When a purchaser files a petition pursuant to this section, thepawnbroker may bring the conveying customer of the alleged misappropriatedproperty into the action as a third-party defendant. If after notice tothe pawnbroker and an opportunity to add the conveying customer as adefendant, the purchased property is found by a court to have beenmisappropriated and purchased by the purchaser in good faith, then:

(1) The prevailing purchaser may recover from the pawnbroker the costof the action, including attorney's fees;

(2) The conveying customer shall be liable to repay the pawnbrokerthe full amount received from the pawn or sales transaction, including allapplicable fees and interest charged and the costs incurred by thepawnbroker in pursuing the procedure described in this section, includingattorney's fees.