Short answer. Yes, but only with the pledgee's consent. Civil Code Article 2097 allows the pawned item to be sold or transferred while the pledge is in force, subject to the pledge, and ownership passes to the buyer as soon as the pledgee agrees — though the pledgee keeps physical possession of the item.
What the law says
With the consent of the pledgee, the thing pledged may be alienated by the pledgor or owner, subject to the pledge. The ownership of the thing pledged is transmitted to the vendee or transferee as soon as the pledgee consents to the alienation, but the latter shall continue in possession.
Civil Code, Article 2097 — Alienation of the Thing Pledged. Read the full provision →
Consent is the condition, not an afterthought
Article 2097 opens with the requirement: “with the consent of the pledgee, the thing pledged may be alienated by the pledgor or owner.” Without that consent, selling the pawned item is not something this article authorizes. The pledgee — the pawnshop or person holding the item as security — has to agree before the pledgor can validly transfer it to someone else while the pledge is still outstanding.
The sale does not erase the pledge
Even with consent, the item is alienated “subject to the pledge.” The buyer does not receive the item free of the obligation it secures; the pledge continues to attach to it in the pledgee's hands. So the new owner takes the item burdened by the same security arrangement that existed before the sale, rather than acquiring it clean of the debt it was pawned to cover.
That is the part buyers most often misread. Taking the item subject to the pledge means the buyer's ownership is real but encumbered: the pledgee may keep holding the thing until the secured debt is paid, and if it is not paid the pledgee's remedies against the thing survive the sale. A buyer who wants the item in hand has to deal with the debt, not merely with the seller.
Ownership can change hands without possession changing
Article 2097 separates ownership from possession here in an unusual way: “the ownership of the thing pledged is transmitted to the vendee or transferee as soon as the pledgee consents to the alienation, but the latter shall continue in possession.” The buyer becomes the owner the moment the pledgee consents, even though the pledgee — not the buyer — keeps physical custody of the item until the underlying debt is settled or the pledge otherwise ends.
What this means if you want to sell a pawned item
Before agreeing to sell something you have pawned, or before buying something someone tells you is currently pawned, the pledgee's consent needs to actually be secured and, ideally, documented. A sale arranged without it does not fit within what Article 2097 permits, and the buyer would be taking on an item still legally tied to a pledge the pledgee never agreed to let move.
It is also worth being clear about what selling does not do. Article 2097 moves ownership of the thing; it says nothing about moving the loan. The pledgor stays personally liable for the principal debt unless the creditor separately agrees to release him and accept someone else in his place, so a pledgor who sells and assumes he has walked away from the obligation is mistaken. The article likewise governs alienation by the pledgor or owner — it is not authority for the pledgee to sell the thing it is merely holding.