BILL REQ. #:  H-1505.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/28/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to the department of licensing; amending RCW 18.96.050, 19.105.380, and 64.36.225; adding a new section to chapter 43.24 RCW; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.24 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The business and professions account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from business or professional licenses, registrations, certifications, renewals, examinations, or civil penalties assessed and collected by the department from the following chapters must be deposited into the account:
     (a) Chapter 18.11 RCW, auctioneers;
     (b) Chapter 18.16 RCW, cosmetologists, barbers, and manicurists;
     (c) Chapter 18.96 RCW, landscape architects;
     (d) Chapter 18.145 RCW, court reporters;
     (e) Chapter 18.165 RCW, private investigators;
     (f) Chapter 18.170 RCW, security guards;
     (g) Chapter 18.185 RCW, bail bond agents;
     (h) Chapter 19.16 RCW, collection agencies;
     (i) Chapter 19.31 RCW, employment agencies;
     (j) Chapter 19.105 RCW, camping resorts;
     (k) Chapter 19.138 RCW, sellers of travel;
     (l) Chapter 42.44 RCW, notaries public; and
     (m) Chapter 64.36 RCW, timeshares.
     Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for expenses incurred in carrying out these business and professions licensing activities of the department. Any residue in the account shall be accumulated and shall not revert to the general fund at the end of the biennium.
     (2) The director shall biennially prepare a budget request based on the anticipated costs of administering the business and professions licensing activities listed in subsection (1) of this section, which shall include the estimated income from these business and professions fees.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.96.050 and 1984 c 287 s 52 are each amended to read as follows:
     The members of the first board 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 appointment or until successors are duly appointed and qualified. Every member of the board shall receive a certificate of his or her appointment from the governor, and before beginning his or her term of office shall file with the secretary of state his or her written oath or affirmation for the faithful discharge of his or her official duties. On the expiration of the term of each member, the governor shall appoint a successor to serve for a term of five years, or until his or her successor has been appointed and qualified: PROVIDED, That no member shall serve more than ten consecutive years.
     The governor may remove any member of the board for cause. Vacancies in the board for any reason shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. In carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the members of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses according to the provisions of RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060, such funds to be provided from the ((landscape architects' account in the state general fund)) business and professions account created in section 1 of this act.

Sec. 3   RCW 19.105.380 and 2002 c 86 s 273 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to the unprofessional conduct in RCW 18.235.130, the director may take disciplinary action for the following conduct, acts, or conditions:
     (a) The applicant, registrant, or affiliate has failed to file copies of the camping resort contract form under RCW 19.105.360;
     (b) The applicant, registrant, or affiliate has failed to comply with any provision of this chapter;
     (c) The applicant's, registrant's, or affiliate's offering of camping resort contracts has worked or would work a fraud upon purchasers or owners of camping resort contracts;
     (d) The camping resort operator or any officer, director, or affiliate of the camping resort operator has been enjoined from or had any civil penalty assessed for a finding of dishonest dealing or fraud in a civil suit, or been found to have engaged in any violation of any act designed to protect consumers, or has been engaged in dishonest practices in any industry involving sales to consumers;
     (e) The applicant or registrant has represented or is representing to purchasers in connection with the offer or sale of a camping resort contract that a camping resort property, facility, amenity camp site, or other development is planned, promised, or required, and the applicant or registrant has not provided the director with a security or assurance of performance as required by this chapter;
     (f) The applicant or registrant has not provided or is no longer providing the director with the necessary security arrangements to ensure future availability of titles or properties as required by this chapter or agreed to in the permit to market;
     (g) The applicant or registrant is or has been employing unregistered salespersons or offering or proposing a membership referral program not in compliance with this chapter;
     (h) The applicant or registrant has breached any escrow, impound, reserve account, or trust arrangement or the conditions of an order or permit to market required by this chapter;
     (i) The applicant or registrant has filed or caused to be filed with the director any document or affidavit, or made any statement during the course of a registration or exemption procedure with the director, that is materially untrue or misleading;
     (j) The applicant or registrant has engaged in a practice of failing to provide the written disclosures to purchasers or prospective purchasers as required under this chapter;
     (k) The applicant, registrant, or any of its officers, directors, or employees, if the operator is other than a natural person, have willfully done, or permitted any of their salespersons or agents to do, any of the following:
     (i) Engage in a pattern or practice of making untrue or misleading statements of a material fact, or omitting to state a material fact;
     (ii) Employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud purchasers or members;
     (iii) Engage in a pattern or practice of failing to provide the written disclosures to purchasers or prospective purchasers as required under this chapter;
     (l) The applicant or registrant has failed to provide a bond, letter of credit, or other arrangement to ensure delivery of promised gifts, prizes, awards, or other items of consideration, as required under this chapter, breached such a security arrangement, or failed to maintain such a security arrangement in effect because of a resignation or loss of a trustee, impound, or escrow agent;
     (m) The applicant or registrant has engaged in a practice of selling contracts using material amendments or codicils that have not been filed or are the consequences of breaches or alterations in previously filed contracts;
     (n) The applicant or registrant has engaged in a practice of selling or proposing to sell contracts in a ratio of contracts to sites available in excess of that filed in the affidavit required by this chapter;
     (o) The camping resort operator has withdrawn, has the right to withdraw, or is proposing to withdraw from use all or any portion of any camping resort property devoted to the camping resort program, unless:
     (i) Adequate provision has been made to provide within a reasonable time thereafter a substitute property in the same general area that is at least as desirable for the purpose of camping and outdoor recreation;
     (ii) The property is withdrawn because, despite good faith efforts by the camping resort operator, a nonaffiliate of the camping resort has exercised a right of withdrawal from use by the camping resort (such as withdrawal following expiration of a lease of the property to the camping resort) and the terms of the withdrawal right have been disclosed in writing to all purchasers at or prior to the time of any sales of camping resort contracts after the camping resort has represented to purchasers that the property is or will be available for camping or recreation purposes;
     (iii) The specific date upon which the withdrawal becomes effective has been disclosed in writing to all purchasers and members prior to the time of any sales of camping resort contracts after the camping resort has represented to purchasers that the property is or will be available for camping or recreation purposes;
     (iv) The rights of members and owners of the camping resort contracts under the express terms of the camping resort contract have expired, or have been specifically limited, upon the lapse of a stated or determinable period of time, and the director by order has found that the withdrawal is not otherwise inconsistent with the protection of purchasers or the desire of the majority of the owners of camping resort contracts, as expressed in their previously obtained vote of approval;
     (p) The format, form, or content of the written disclosures provided therein is not complete, full, or materially accurate, or statements made therein are materially false, misleading, or deceptive;
     (q) The applicant or registrant has failed to file an amendment for a material change in the manner or at the time required under this chapter or its implementing rules;
     (r) The applicant or registrant has filed voluntarily or been placed involuntarily into a federal bankruptcy or is proposing to do so; or
     (s) A camping resort operator's rights or interest in a campground has been terminated by foreclosure or the operations in a camping resort have been terminated in a manner contrary to contract provisions.
     (2) An operator, registrant, or applicant against whom administrative or legal proceedings have been filed shall be responsible for and shall reimburse the state, by payment into the ((general fund)) business and professions account created in section 1 of this act, for all administrative and legal costs actually incurred by the department in issuing, processing, and conducting any such administrative or legal proceeding authorized under this chapter that results in a final legal or administrative determination of any type or degree in favor of the department.
     (3) The director may enter into assurances of discontinuance in lieu of issuing a statement of charges or a cease and desist order or conducting a hearing under this chapter. The assurances shall consist of a statement of the law in question and an agreement not to violate the stated provision. The applicant or registrant shall not be required to admit to any violation of the law, nor shall the assurance be construed as such an admission. Violating or breaching an assurance under this subsection is grounds for suspension or revocation of registration or imposition of a fine.
     (4) The director shall immediately suspend the license or certificate of a person who has been certified pursuant to RCW 74.20A.320 by the department of social and health services as a person who is not in compliance with a support order. If the person has continued to meet all other requirements for reinstatement during the suspension, reissuance of the license or certificate shall be automatic upon the director's receipt of a release issued by the department of social and health services stating that the licensee is in compliance with the order.

Sec. 4   RCW 64.36.225 and 1987 c 370 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     A registrant or applicant against whom an administrative or legal proceeding authorized under this chapter has been filed, shall be liable for and reimburse to the state of Washington by payment into the ((general fund)) business and professions account created in section 1 of this act, all administrative and legal costs, including attorneys' fees, incurred by the department in issuing and conducting administrative or legal proceedings that result in a final legal or administrative determination of any type or degree, in favor of the department or the state of Washington.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   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 takes effect July 1, 2005.