Pawn Software Built for Vermont's 5%/3% Interest & Six-Month Hold

Vermont pawn shops operate under 9 V.S.A. Chapter 97, which caps pawn interest at 5% per month on loans of $50 or less and 3% per month on larger loans, requires pledged property to be held six months before sale, and licenses pawnbrokers town by town rather than through a single state office. The interest cap changes at the $50 line, redemption runs a full six months, and enhanced recordkeeping (including the pledgor's vehicle license plate number) can apply once a shop's loan volume passes a statutory threshold. PawnSmarts comes pre-configured for these rules — it handles the tiered math, tracks every hold and redemption date, and exports clean reports to your local police department and LEADS Online — from $89/month or $2,995 one time, with no contract.

How PawnSmarts fits a Vermont pawn shop

Set your store to Vermont once and the rules follow every ticket. PawnSmarts applies the correct interest tier from the loan amount, defaults loans to the statutory hold, captures the records Vermont expects, and keeps working even when your internet drops — it runs offline and auto-syncs the moment you reconnect.

• Pre-configured Vermont interest tiers — enter the loan amount, get the right rate
• Six-month hold and redemption dates tracked automatically, with forfeiture flags
• Vehicle-license-number field and photo/video capture for Vermont recordkeeping
• Scan a license to auto-fill the pledgor's name, address, DOB and ID number
• Export to your local police department and LEADS Online with no per-report fee
• Professional plan reminds pledgors three times and lets them pay online — fewer forfeitures
• Runs on Windows, Mac, iPad, Android or any phone in a browser

9 V.S.A. §3867 — Vermont's tiered interest cap

Vermont sets a two-tier limit on pawn interest based on the size of the loan:

• Loans of $50.00 or less: up to 5% per month (or fraction of a month)
• Loans over $50.00: up to 3% per month on the full loan amount
• Minimum charge: no charge of less than $0.15 on any loan or pledge

This is the rule that trips up generic software. PawnSmarts reads the loan amount and applies the correct tier on its own — a $50 loan calculates at 5%, a $75 loan at 3% — with no manual tier picking and no arithmetic by hand. You confirm the rate matches current law; PawnSmarts does the calculation every time.

9 V.S.A. §3868 — six-month minimum hold

Vermont pawnbrokers must hold pledged property for six months without redemption before it can be sold. PawnSmarts defaults Vermont loans to that hold period, counts the days for you, and flags items as they approach forfeiture so nothing is sold early by accident.

• Maturity and redemption dates set automatically from the pawn date
• Aging view shows what is approaching the end of its hold
• Surplus calculation: figure what is owed back to the pledgor after loan plus interest

9 V.S.A. §3865 — recordkeeping and the vehicle-license field

Vermont's enhanced recordkeeping requirements apply once a pawnbroker's loans pass a statutory dollar threshold in a calendar year. When they apply, each transaction record must capture:

• The amount advanced, the time of the transaction, and the interest rate applied
• The pledgor's name, current address, telephone number, and vehicle license (plate) number
• A legible written description and a photograph — or a video — of the items
• A photocopy of the pledgor's government-issued ID, where available

The vehicle-license number is a Vermont-specific detail most software has no place for. PawnSmarts includes a dedicated vehicle-plate field (with state of issuance), built-in photo and video capture, and ID scanning — so the record is complete and ready for the law-enforcement inspection that Vermont keeps open "at all reasonable times."

9 V.S.A. §3862 & §3863 — town licenses and the bond

Vermont licenses pawnbrokers at the municipal level, not from a single statewide agency. Selectboard members in towns, or aldermen/city councils in cities, issue the license; the statute sets a small annual license fee and requires a pawnbroker's bond. Because licensing is local, requirements can differ from one town to the next.

PawnSmarts is your recordkeeping and transaction system — it does not file your license or post your bond. It does give you a place to store license and renewal information alongside the rest of your shop's records. Confirm current fee and bond amounts, and any added local terms, with your town or city before you open or renew.

9 V.S.A. §3866 — pawn tickets

Vermont requires you to give the pledgor a memorandum or note — the pawn ticket — at the time of the loan, carrying the substance of the required record, and you may not charge for that ticket. PawnSmarts prints clean, customizable pawn tickets on plain paper, lets you lay out the required fields, and includes a lost-ticket workflow that voids the original and issues a replacement.

9 V.S.A. §3870 — transactions with minors

A Vermont pawnbroker may not accept a pledge from anyone under 18 without the written authority of a parent or guardian. PawnSmarts records date of birth on every customer and gives you a place to store that written authority when it is required. The software supports your procedure — verifying age and obtaining consent remains your responsibility.

Vermont LEADS Online & local police reporting

Because Vermont licensing and inspection run locally, your reporting goes to your own department. PawnSmarts exports transaction data and transmits to LEADS Online and to local agencies — with no per-report fee from us. Shops across the state report to departments such as Burlington, South Burlington, Rutland City, Montpelier, Barre City and Essex.

Read more about how this works in our guide to pawn shop police reporting. You stay responsible for matching each export to your agency's current format; PawnSmarts gives you the export tools and the automatic transmission to do it.

Other Vermont rules to know

• Definition (9 V.S.A. §3861): Vermont's pawnbroker definition reaches certain furniture-storage warehouse operations that loan against pledged goods. PawnSmarts can be configured for those transaction types if they apply to you.
• Penalties (9 V.S.A. §3871): Vermont sets penalties for violations. PawnSmarts organizes your transaction data so your records are clean — compliance itself remains yours.
• Military Lending Act (federal): Pawn transactions with covered borrowers are capped at 36% APR, with status checked through the DMDC portal. PawnSmarts lets you record DMDC confirmation numbers and attach proof to the customer file; it does not verify covered status for you.
• General usury / consumer-credit context (9 V.S.A.): Vermont's broader interest and consumer-credit provisions sit alongside the pawn-specific cap. When in doubt about a charge, confirm against current statute.

Switching to PawnSmarts in Vermont

Moving from another system is the easy part. We migrate your customers, loans and inventory for you for a one-time $395, and most shops are live in under 24 hours. There is no setup fee, no exit fee and no contract — $89/month for Essential, $129/month for Professional, or $2,995 to own Professional outright. If you run integrated card processing, the software can be free.

Serving a shop in Burlington, South Burlington, Rutland, Montpelier, Barre or anywhere else in the state? See the full list of states we serve and our US pawn licensing guide, or compare PawnSmarts head to head on the comparison page.

Frequently Asked Questions