Americans rich and poor pawn more to pay bills

"They are coming in with the houseboats, the quads, the Harleys... The toys they can live without, sitting in the garage," Baker said, sitting in his office at the store, where several of the staff have pistols holstered in their belts.

Across town, William Jachimek, a 25-year veteran of the trade, said cash-strapped mortgage brokers started coming in about a year ago and now account for 10 percent of business.

"We had one mortgage broker who pawned his wife's jewelry and their Viking oven," says the owner of five pawn shops who takes "everything that can be sold on E-bay" as collateral.

Business is up 20 percent on last year at Mo Money Pawn, and seven percent at Pawn Central, Jachimek's flagship store. Nevertheless, a growing number of customers are defaulting on loans, creating some uncertainty.

"It's really good from the aspect that we're taking stuff in and your money is making money while it's out there. But, on the other side, a lot of people are not picking stuff up," Baker said.

Pawnbrokers said it was getting harder to turn over items and unsold merchandise is mounting. Back in Beverly Hills, Tabach-Bank said defaults were up a bit, but still only about 5 percent. "Unlike banks, we are able to work with our customers," Tabach-Bank said. "We're not the kind of pawn shop that cuts you off the day your loan comes due."

(Reporting by Sue Zeidler and Tim Gaynor; Editing by Mary Milliken)