S-3920               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 4932

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Senators Bender, Moore, Bottiger, Talmadge, Rasmussen, Fleming, Johnson and Bauer

Read first time 1/23/86 and referred to Committee on Financial Institutions.

AN ACT Relating to retail sales; creating new sections; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     (1) A seller may not impose a surcharge on a buyer in any sales transaction for goods or services because the buyer uses a credit or charge card instead of cash, check, or similar means of payment.  For purposes of this section, "surcharge" means any additional amount imposed at the time of the sales transaction by the merchant or seller that increases the charge to the buyer for the privilege of using a credit or charge card.

          (2) Subsection (1)  of this section does not prohibit offering discounts for the purpose of inducing payments by cash, check, or similar means not involving the use of a credit or charge card, if the discount is offered to all prospective customers.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Any seller who wilfully violates the provisions of this act and who fails to pay the surcharge amount to the cardholder within thirty days of a written demand by the cardholder to the seller by certified mail, shall be liable to the cardholder for twice the amount of the surcharge amount.  The cardholder shall also recover reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in an attempt to recover the surcharge amount.