Section 40-39-140 - Third-party ownership of pledge and sold property; returns; pawnbroker remedies and liability exemption(A) No pawnbroker shall accept property from a pledgor or seller upon which there is evidence of ownership by a third party without first taking reasonable steps to ascertain its true ownership. Any such item accepted for pawn or purchased by a pawnbroker must be returned on demand without fee to the third party owner.(B)(1) If property in the possession of a pawnbroker was leased to a pledgor or seller when the pledgor or seller pledged or sold the property to the pawnbroker, the pawnbroker shall return the property to the lessor if the lessor provides the pawnbroker with evidence that the property was the lessor's property and was leased to the pledgor or seller at the time the property was pledged or sold to the pawnbroker. For the purposes of this section, a lease or other written agreement containing a matching item description shall be sufficient evidence of the lessor's ownership of the property.(2) If property in the possession of a pawnbroker was leased to a pledgor or seller when the pledgor or seller pledged or sold the property to the pawnbroker and the pawnbroker returns the property to the lessor, the pledgor or seller must pay the pawnbroker: (a) the amount financed, the finance fee for the pawn transaction, and any costs associated with collecting those amounts and fees, if the property was pledged to the pawnbroker; or(b) the amount that the pawnbroker paid the seller and any costs associated with collecting that amount if the property was sold to the pawnbroker.(3) A pawnbroker is not liable to the pledgor or seller of property that is recovered by a lessor under item (1) for returning the property to a lessor.Amended by 2016 S.C. Acts, Act No. 262 (HB 4090), s 13, eff. 6/9/2016.1988 Act No. 491, Section 2.