En el derecho romano, la prenda, pignus o empeño es un tipo de los llamados préstamos pretorios (por oposición a los préstamos civiles). Consiste en la entrega en garantía de una cosa del deudor -que es, a la vez, pignorante-, al acreedor -que pasa a ser acreedor pignoraticio- para que la retenga hasta que se extinga la obligación, propia o ajena, que se garantiza. En cuanto préstamo en garantía, supone la existencia de una obligación para el acreedor pignoraticio: la de restituir la prenda en caso que el deudor o pignorante extinga la obligación. Sin embargo, el hecho de quedar la prenda en poder del acreedor pignoraticio hace nacer en favor de éste varios derechos sobre la cosa, entre ellos, un derecho de persecución, por lo que hablamos de un derecho real de garantía. . Con la voz pignus (prenda), se abarca tanto el negocio jurídico de entregar la cosa, así como la cosa pignorada misma y el derecho real que constituye.

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A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been pawned to the broker are themselves called pledges or pawns, or simply the collateral. While many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, musical instruments, home audio equipment, computers, video game systems, televisions, cameras, power tools and other relatively valuable items as collateral If an item is pawned for a loan (colloquially, "hocked"), within a certain contractual period of time the pawner may redeem it for the amount of the loan plus some agreed-upon amount for interest. The amount of time, and rate of interest, is governed by law or by the pawnbroker's policies. If the loan is not paid (or extended, if applicable) within the time period, the pawned item will be offered for sale to other customers by the pawnbroker. Unlike other lenders, the pawnbroker does not report the defaulted loan on the customer's credit report, since the pawnbroker has physical possession of the item and may recoup the loan value through outright sale of the item. The pawnbroker also sells items that have been sold outright to them by customers. Some pawnshops are willing to trade items in their shop for items brought to them by customers.

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