RENTON, Wash. -- Santa's not the only one making a list and checking it twice.

The city of Renton will join a growing number of cities in the New Year forcing pawn shops to run customers through a "no-buy lis"’ before doing business with them.

The regulations require pawnbrokers to enter a person’s name and information into a national database, which checks and flags criminal history for burglary, larceny, and similar convictions.

Businesses will also be required to record the names and addresses of anyone witnessing a transaction.

“We realized there’s more and more property showing up into some of the pawn stores,” said Commander Jeff Eddy, who heads the investigations division for the Renton Police Department. “It’s not just stolen property. It’s also items that are being taken from stores like Walmart and Fred Meyer.”

Kevin Opdahl, president of the Washington State Pawnbrokers Association, said he supports a "no-buy list" but described the Renton regulations as cumbersome.

“We don’t want to deal with criminals, we really don’t,” Opdahl said. “There’s a strong financial reason why we don’t. Something comes up that’s stolen and the police come in and confiscate it – we lose out, so we’re always on guard not to take in stolen stuff.”

Opdahl said a number of Renton’s 13 pawn shops opposed the ordinance, which the City Council passed last Monday.

“It’s another regulation,” he said. “Less than 1 percent of anything we have that comes in comes up stolen anyway. It’s a misconception that so much ends up in a pawn shop.”

The regulations go into effect Jan. 16, said City Councilmember Armando Pavone, chair of the public safety committee.

“Whenever anything comes about – for me, personally, I always look at it from the standpoint of a small business owner,” Pavone said. “It seems like a lot of pushback over something that seems like more of a tool.”

“This protects [shop owners] as much as anybody else,” Eddy added. “There’s things that could happen to them as far as criminal charges if they don’t adhere to the state guidelines.”