FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- With gold prices on the rise something else is going up too -- property crime.
Federal Way saw a 15 percent jump in residential burglaries in the last year. City leaders blame the booming gold business.
Gold is selling at an all-time high, about $1500 an ounce. So Federal Way plans to change the rules when it comes to buying and selling gold, but not everyone's buying it.
For Pattie Mhoon, time has run out for many of her heirloom pieces, so she is cashing in. Pattie knows her timing couldn't be better. Unfortunately she's not the only one. Thieves know gold's value too, many of them cashing in at cash-for-gold dealers.
So starting June 1, gold buyers in Federal Way will have to help in the screening process, including a 30-day holding period of any gold bought, and fingerprinting potential sellers.
"Well I think that's a little bit of overkill," said Rene Criss, owner of Federal Way Custom Jewelers.
Criss already keeps detailed records of his sellers, including copies of their driver's licenses and pictures of their jewelry. He welcomes the new measures to toughen the law, as long as everyone plays by the rules, something he says a lot of buyers don't do.
"I think that's the key thing is to make sure it can be enforced and complied with," said Criss.
But is it bad for business? Criss isn't worried about the new law scaring customers away. "If they're uncomfortable with it then I guess I'd probably be uncomfortable buying something from them," he says.
Pattie Mhoon admits she's not crazy about the idea of being fingerprinted, but does see the value. "That's ok, they should. That's not a bad law."
Gold buyers will also have to enter items into the national leads online database, so the goal is two-fold: to catch more bad guys and also recover more stolen property.
Federal Way's new law takes effect June 1st.
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