6638-S AMS HORN S4895

6638-S AMS HORN S4895.2

SSB 6638 - S AMD - 706

By Senator Horn

On page 10, after line 25, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 18.27 RCW to read as follows:

(1) If any contractor, whether registered or not, defaults in any payment, penalty, or fine due to the department, the director or the director's designee may issue a notice of assessment certifying the amount due, which notice shall be served upon the contractor by mailing such notice to the contractor by certified mail to the contractor's last known address or served in the manner prescribed for the service of a summons in a civil action.

(2) A notice of assessment becomes final thirty days from the date the notice was served upon the contractor unless a written request for reconsideration is filed with the department or an appeal is filed in superior court in the manner specified in RCW 34.05.510 through 34.05.598. The request for reconsideration shall set forth with particularity the reason for the contractor's request. The department, within thirty days after receiving a written request for reconsideration, may modify, or reverse any notice of assessment, or may hold any such notice of assessment in abeyance pending further investigation. If a final decision of any court in favor of the department is not appealed within the time allowed by law, then the amount of the unappealed assessment, or such amount of the assessment as is found due by the final decision of the court, shall be deemed final.

(3) The director or the director's designee may file with the clerk of any county within the state a warrant in the amount of the notice of assessment. The clerk of the county wherein the warrant is filed shall immediately designate a superior court cause number for such warrant, and the clerk shall cause to be entered in the judgment docket under the superior court cause number assigned to the warrant, the name of such contractor mentioned in the warrant, the amount of payment, penalty, or fine due thereon, and the date when such warrant was filed. The aggregate amount of such warrant as docketed shall become a lien upon the title to, and interest in all real and personal property of the contractor against whom the warrant is issued, the same as a judgment in a civil case duly docketed in the office of such clerk. The sheriff shall thereupon proceed upon the same in all respects and with like effect as prescribed by law with respect to execution or other process issued against rights or property upon judgment in the superior court. Such warrant so docketed shall be sufficient to support the issuance of writs of garnishment in favor of the state in a manner provided by law in case of judgment, wholly or partially unsatisfied. The clerk of the court shall be entitled to a filing fee of five dollars, which shall be added to the amount of the warrant. A copy of such warrant shall be mailed to the contractor within three days of filing with the clerk.

(4) The director or the director's designee is hereby authorized to issue to any person, firm, corporation, municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, a public corporation, or any agency of the state, a notice and order to withhold and deliver property of any kind whatsoever when he or she has reason to believe that there is in the possession of such person, firm, corporation, municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, public corporation, or any agency of the state, property which is or shall become due, owing, or belonging to any contractor upon whom a notice of assessment has been served by the department for payments, penalties, or fines due to the department. The effect of a notice and order to withhold and deliver shall be continuous from the date such notice and order to withhold and deliver is first made until the liability out of which such notice and order to withhold and deliver arose is satisfied or becomes unenforceable because of lapse of time. The department shall release the notice and order to withhold and deliver when the liability out of which the notice and order to withhold and deliver arose is satisfied or becomes unenforceable by reason of lapse of time and shall notify the person against whom the notice and order to withhold and deliver was made that such notice and order to withhold and deliver has been released.

The notice and order to withhold and deliver shall be served by the sheriff of the county or by the sheriff's deputy, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by any duly authorized representatives of the director. Any person, firm, corporation, municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, public corporation, or any agency of the state upon whom service has been made is hereby required to answer the notice within twenty days exclusive of the day of service, under oath and in writing, and shall make true answers to the matters inquired of in the notice and order to withhold and deliver. In the event there is in the possession of the party named and served with a notice and order to withhold and deliver, any property which may be subject to the claim of the department, such property shall be delivered forthwith to the director or the director's duly authorized representative upon service of the notice to withhold and deliver which will be held in trust by the director for application on the contractor's indebtedness to the department, or for return without interest, in accordance with a final determination of a petition for review, or in the alternative such party shall furnish a good and sufficient surety bond satisfactory to the director conditioned upon final determination of liability. Should any party served and named in the notice to withhold and deliver fail to make answer to such notice and order to withhold and deliver, within the time prescribed herein, it shall be lawful for the court, after the time to answer such order has expired, to render judgment by default against the party named in the notice to withhold and deliver for the full amount claimed by the director in the notice to withhold and deliver together with costs. In the event that a notice to withhold and deliver is served upon a contractor and the property found to be subject thereto is wages, then the contractor shall be entitled to assert in the answer to all exemptions provided for by chapter 6.27 RCW to which the wage earner may be entitled.

(5) In addition to the procedure for collection of any payment, penalty, or fine due to the department as set forth in this section, the department may recover civil penalties imposed under this chapter in a civil action in the name of the department brought in the superior court of the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred."

Renumber the remaining sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.

EFFECT: Gives the Department of Labor and Industries the same authority to collect moneys owed from contractors as they have for non-payment of workers' compensation obligations.