AN ACT
Relating to the regulation of escrow agents; amending RCW 18.44.010, 18.44.080,
18.44.208, 18.44.290, 18.44.380, 43.320.011, 43.320.013, 43.320.060, and
43.320.110; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
18.44.010 and 1985 c 7 s 47 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless
the context otherwise requires terms used in this chapter shall have the
following meanings:
(1)
"Department" means the department of ((licensing)) financial
institutions.
(2)
"Director" means the director of ((licensing)) financial
institutions, or his or her duly authorized representative.
(3)
"Escrow" means any transaction wherein any person or persons, for the
purpose of effecting and closing the sale, purchase, exchange, transfer,
encumbrance, or lease of real or personal property to another person or
persons, delivers any written instrument, money, evidence of title to real or
personal property, or other thing of value to a third person to be held by such
third person until the happening of a specified event or the performance of a
prescribed condition or conditions, when it is then to be delivered by such
third person, in compliance with instructions under which he is to act, to a
grantee, grantor, promisee, promisor, obligee, obligor, lessee, lessor, bailee,
bailor, or any agent or employee thereof.
(4)
"Escrow agent" means any sole proprietorship, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation engaged in the business of performing for
compensation the duties of the third person referred to in RCW 18.44.010(3)
above.
(5)
"Certificated escrow agent" means any sole proprietorship, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation holding a certificate of registration as an escrow
agent under the provisions of this chapter.
(6)
"Person" unless a different meaning appears from the context,
includes an individual, a firm, association, partnership or corporation, or the
plural thereof, whether resident, nonresident, citizen or not.
(7)
"Escrow officer" means any natural person handling escrow
transactions and licensed as such by the director.
(8)
"Escrow commission" means the escrow commission of the state of
Washington created by RCW 18.44.208.
(9)
"Controlling person" is any person who owns or controls ten percent
or more of the beneficial ownership of any escrow agent, regardless of the form
of business organization employed and regardless of whether such interest
stands in such person's true name or in the name of a nominee.
Sec.
2. RCW
18.44.080 and 1985 c 340 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
The
director shall charge and collect the following fees:
(1)
For filing an original or a renewal application for registration as an escrow
agent, annual fees for the first office or location and for each additional
office or location.
(2)
For filing an application for a change of address, for each certificate of
registration and for each escrow officer license being so changed.
(3)
For filing an application for a duplicate of a certificate of registration or
of an escrow officer license lost, stolen, destroyed, or for replacement.
(4)
For providing administrative support to the escrow commission.
All
fees under this chapter shall be set by rule by the director ((in
accordance with RCW 43.24.086)). In fixing these fees, the director
shall set the fees at a sufficient level to defray the costs of administering
this chapter.
All
fees received by the director under this chapter shall be paid ((by him))
into the state treasury to the credit of the ((general fund)) banking
examination fund.
Sec.
3. RCW 18.44.208
and 1985 c 340 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
There
is established an escrow commission of the state of Washington, to consist of
the director of ((licensing)) financial institutions or his or her
designee as chairman, and five other members who shall act as
advisors to the director as to the needs of the escrow profession, including
but not limited to the design and conduct of tests to be administered to
applicants for escrow licenses, the schedule of license fees to be applied to
the escrow licensees, educational programs, audits and investigations of the
escrow profession designed to protect the consumer, and such other matters
determined appropriate. ((Such members shall be appointed by the governor))
The director is hereby empowered to and shall appoint the other members,
each of whom shall have been a resident of this state for at least five years
and shall have at least five years experience in the practice of escrow as an
escrow agent or as a person in responsible charge of escrow transactions.
The
members of the first commission shall serve for the following terms: One
member for one year, one member for two years, one member for three years, one
member for four years, and one member for five years, from the date of their
appointment, or until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. Every
member of the commission shall receive a certificate of appointment from the ((governor))
director and before beginning the member's term of office shall file
with the secretary of state a written oath or affirmation for the faithful
discharge of the member's official duties. On the expiration of the term of
each member, the ((governor)) director shall appoint a successor
to serve for a term of five years or until the member's successor has been
appointed and qualified.
The ((governor))
director may remove any member of the commission for cause. Vacancies
in the commission for any reason shall be filled by appointment for the
unexpired term.
Members
shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240, and shall be reimbursed
for their travel expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this
chapter in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
Sec.
4. RCW
18.44.290 and 1977 ex.s. c 156 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:
Any
person desiring to be an escrow officer shall meet the requirements of RCW
18.44.220 as provided in this chapter. The applicant shall make application
endorsed by a certificated escrow agent to the director on a form to be
prescribed and furnished by the director. Such application must be received by
the director within one year of passing the escrow officer examination. With
this application the applicant shall:
(1)
Pay a license fee as set forth ((in this chapter)) by rule; and
(2)
Furnish such proof as the director may require concerning his or her
honesty, truthfulness, good reputation, and identity, including but not limited
to fingerprints.
Sec.
5. RCW
18.44.380 and 1987 c 471 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
A
request for a waiver of the required errors and omissions policy may be
accomplished under the statute by submitting to the director an affidavit that
substantially addresses the following:
REQUEST
FOR WAIVER OF
ERRORS
AND OMISSIONS POLICY
I,
. . . . . ., residing at
. . . . . ., City of
. . . . . ., County of
. . . . . ., State of Washington, declare the
following:
(1)
The state escrow commission has determined that an errors and omissions policy
is not reasonably available to a substantial number of licensed escrow
officers; and
(2)
Purchasing an errors and omissions policy is cost-prohibitive at this time; and
(3) I
have not engaged in any conduct that resulted in the termination of my escrow
certificate; and
(4) I
have not paid, directly or through an errors and omissions policy, claims in
excess of ten thousand dollars, exclusive of costs and attorneys' fees, during
the calendar year preceding submission of this affidavit; and
(5) I
have not paid, directly or through an errors and omissions policy, claims,
exclusive of costs and attorneys' fees, totaling in excess of twenty thousand
dollars in the three calendar years immediately preceding submission of this
affidavit; and
(6) I
have not been convicted of a crime involving honesty or moral turpitude during
the calendar year preceding submission of this application.
THEREFORE,
in consideration of the above, I, . . . . . .,
respectfully request that the director of ((licensing)) financial
institutions grant this request for a waiver of the requirement that I
purchase and maintain an errors and omissions policy covering my activities as
an escrow agent licensed by the state of Washington for the period from
. . . . . ., 19. . ., to
. . . . . ., 19. . .
Submitted
this day of . . . . day of . . . . . .,
19. . .
...................................................
(signature)
State
of Washington, B
C ss.
County of
((King)) . . . . . . . D
I
certify that I know or have satisfactory evidence that
. . . . . . . . ., signed this
instrument and acknowledged it to be
. . . . . . . . . free and voluntary
act for the uses and purposes mentioned in the instrument.
Dated..............................................
Signature
of
Notary
Public......................................
(Seal or
stamp) Title............................................
My
appointment expires.............................
Sec.
6. RCW
43.320.011 and 1993 c 472 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
All powers, duties, and functions of the department of general administration
under Titles 30, 31, 32, 33, and 43 RCW and any other title pertaining to
duties relating to banks, savings banks, foreign bank branches, savings and
loan associations, credit unions, consumer loan companies, check cashers and
sellers, trust companies and departments, and other similar institutions are
transferred to the department of financial institutions. All references to the
director of general administration, supervisor of banking, or the supervisor of
savings and loan associations in the Revised Code of Washington are construed
to mean the director of the department of financial institutions when referring
to the functions transferred in this section. All references to the department
of general administration in the Revised Code of Washington are construed to
mean the department of financial institutions when referring to the functions
transferred in this subsection.
(2)
All powers, duties, and functions of the department of licensing under chapters
18.44, 19.100, 19.110, 21.20, 21.30, and 48.18A RCW and any other
statute pertaining to the regulation under the chapters listed in this
subsection of escrow agents, securities, franchises, business
opportunities, commodities, and any other speculative investments are
transferred to the department of financial institutions. All references to the
director or department of licensing in the Revised Code of Washington are
construed to mean the director or department of financial institutions when
referring to the functions transferred in this subsection.
Sec.
7. RCW
43.320.013 and 1993 c 472 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
All
employees classified under chapter 41.06 RCW, the state civil service law, who
are employees of the department of general administration or the department of
licensing engaged in performing the powers, functions, and duties transferred
by RCW 43.320.011, except those under chapter 18.44 RCW, are transferred
to the department of financial institutions. All such employees are assigned
to the department of financial institutions to perform their usual duties upon
the same terms as formerly, without any loss of rights, subject to any action
that may be appropriate thereafter in accordance with the laws and rules
governing state civil service.
Sec.
8. RCW
43.320.060 and 1993 c 472 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:
The
director of financial institutions shall appoint, deputize, and employ
examiners and such other assistants and personnel as may be necessary to carry
on the work of the department of financial institutions.
In the
event of the director's absence the director shall have the power to deputize
one of the assistants of the director to exercise all the powers and perform
all the duties prescribed by law with respect to banks, savings banks, foreign
bank branches, savings and loan associations, credit unions, consumer loan
companies, check cashers and sellers, trust companies and departments,
securities, franchises, business opportunities, commodities, escrow agents,
and other similar institutions or areas that are performed by the director so
long as the director is absent: PROVIDED, That such deputized assistant shall
not have the power to approve or disapprove new charters, licenses, branches,
and satellite facilities, unless such action has received the prior written
approval of the director. Any person so deputized shall possess the same
qualifications as those set out in this section for the director.
Sec.
9. RCW
43.320.110 and 1993 c 472 s 25 are each amended to read as follows:
There
is created a local fund known as the "banking examination fund" which
shall consist of all moneys received by the department of financial
institutions from banks, savings banks, foreign bank branches, savings and loan
associations, consumer loan companies, check cashers and sellers, ((and))
trust companies and departments, and escrow agents, and which shall be
used for the purchase of supplies and necessary equipment and the payment of
salaries, wages, utilities, and other incidental costs required for the proper
regulation of these companies. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of
the fund. Disbursements from the fund shall be on authorization of the
director of financial institutions or the director's designee. In order to
maintain an effective expenditure and revenue control, the fund shall be
subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required
to permit expenditures and payment of obligations from the fund.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act
is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1995.
