BILL REQ. #: H-1037.1
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 01/21/11.
AN ACT Relating to streamlining contractor appeals; and amending RCW 18.27.250, 18.27.270, and 18.27.370.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 18.27.250 and 2007 c 436 s 14 are each amended to read
as follows:
A violation designated as an infraction under this chapter shall be
heard and determined by an administrative law judge of the office of
administrative hearings. If a party desires to contest the notice of
infraction, the party shall file a notice of appeal with the department
specifying the grounds of the appeal within ((twenty)) thirty days of
service of the infraction in a manner provided by this chapter. The
appeal must be accompanied by a certified check for two hundred
dollars, which shall be returned to the assessed party if the decision
of the department is not sustained following the final decision in the
appeal. If the final decision sustains the decision of the department,
the department must apply the two hundred dollars to the payment of the
expenses of the appeal, including costs charged by the office of
administrative hearings. The administrative law judge shall conduct
hearings in these cases at locations in the county where the infraction
occurred.
Sec. 2 RCW 18.27.270 and 2007 c 436 s 15 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) A contractor who is issued a notice of infraction shall respond
within ((twenty)) thirty days of the date of issuance of the notice of
infraction.
(2) If the contractor named in the notice of infraction does not
elect to contest the notice of infraction, then the contractor shall
pay to the department, by check or money order, the amount of the
penalty prescribed for the infraction. When a response which does not
contest the notice of infraction is received by the department with the
appropriate penalty, the department shall make the appropriate entry in
its records.
(3) If the contractor named in the notice of infraction elects to
contest the notice of infraction, the contractor shall respond by
filing an appeal to the department in the manner specified in RCW
18.27.250.
(4) If any contractor issued a notice of infraction fails to
respond within the prescribed response period, the contractor shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and prosecuted in the county where the
infraction occurred.
(5) After final determination by an administrative law judge that
an infraction has been committed, a contractor who fails to pay a
monetary penalty within thirty days, that is not waived pursuant to RCW
18.27.340(2), and who fails to file an appeal pursuant to RCW
18.27.310(4), shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be prosecuted in the
county where the infraction occurred.
(6) A contractor who fails to pay a monetary penalty within thirty
days after exhausting appellate remedies pursuant to RCW 18.27.310(4),
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be prosecuted in the county where
the infraction occurred.
(7) If a contractor who is issued a notice of infraction is a
contractor who has failed to register as a contractor under this
chapter, the contractor is subject to a monetary penalty per infraction
as provided in the schedule of penalties established by the department,
and each day the person works without becoming registered is a separate
infraction.
Sec. 3 RCW 18.27.370 and 2001 c 159 s 6 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) ((If an unregistered contractor defaults in a 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. The notice
must be served upon the unregistered contractor by mailing the notice
to the unregistered contractor by certified mail to the unregistered
contractor's last known address or served in the manner prescribed for
the service of a summons in a civil action.)) A notice of infraction
issued under this chapter constitutes a notice of assessment for
purposes of this section.
(2) A notice of ((assessment)) infraction becomes final thirty days
from the date ((the notice was)) it is served upon the ((unregistered))
contractor unless ((a written request for reconsideration is filed with
the department or an appeal is filed in a court of competent
jurisdiction in the manner specified in RCW 34.05.510 through
34.05.598. The request for reconsideration must set forth with
particularity the reason for the unregistered contractor's request.
The department, within thirty days after receiving a written request
for reconsideration, may modify or reverse a notice of assessment, or
may hold a notice of assessment in abeyance pending further
investigation. If a final decision of a 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, is final)) a timely
appeal of the infraction is received as provided in RCW 18.27.270.
(3) When a notice of infraction becomes final, 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))
infraction, plus interest, penalties, and a filing fee of twenty
dollars. The clerk of the county in which the warrant is filed shall
immediately designate a superior court cause number for the 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
the ((unregistered)) contractor mentioned in the warrant, the amount of
payment, penalty, fine due on it, or filing fee, and the date when the
warrant was filed. The aggregate amount of the warrant as docketed
shall become a lien upon the title to, and interest in, all real and
personal property of the ((unregistered)) contractor against whom the
warrant is issued, the same as a judgment in a civil case docketed in
the office of the clerk. The sheriff shall proceed upon the warrant 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 a court of competent jurisdiction. The warrant so docketed
is 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 is entitled to a filing
fee which will be added to the amount of the warrant. A copy of the
warrant shall be mailed to the ((unregistered)) contractor within three
days of filing with the clerk.
(4) The director or the director's designee may issue to any
person, firm, corporation, other entity, 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 the person, firm, corporation, other entity,
municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, public
corporation, or agency of the state, property that is or will become
due, owing, or belonging to ((an unregistered)) a contractor upon whom
a notice of ((assessment)) infraction has been served by the department
for payments, penalties, or fines due to the department. The effect of
a notice and order is continuous from the date the notice and order is
first made until the liability out of which the notice and order arose
is satisfied or becomes unenforceable because of lapse of time. The
department shall release the notice and order when the liability out of
which the notice and order arose is satisfied or becomes unenforceable
by reason of lapse of time and shall notify the person against whom the
notice and order was made that the notice and order has been released.
The notice and order to withhold and deliver must be served by the
sheriff of the county or by the sheriff's deputy, by certified mail,
return receipt requested, or by an authorized representative of the
director. A person, firm, corporation, other entity, municipal
corporation, political subdivision of the state, public corporation, or
agency of the state upon whom service has been made shall 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. Upon service of the notice and order, if the
party served possesses any property that may be subject to the claim of
the department, the party shall promptly deliver the property to the
director or the director's authorized representative. The director
shall hold the property in trust for application on the
((unregistered)) contractor's indebtedness to the department, or for
return without interest, in accordance with a final determination of a
petition for review. In the alternative, the party shall furnish a
good and sufficient surety bond satisfactory to the director
conditioned upon final determination of liability. If a party served
and named in the notice fails to answer the notice within the time
prescribed in this section, the court may render judgment by default
against the party for the full amount claimed by the director in the
notice, together with costs. If a notice and order to withhold and
deliver wages is served upon ((an unregistered)) a contractor ((and the
property subject to it is wages)), individual, or business upon whom a
notice of infraction has been served, the ((unregistered)) contractor,
individual, or business may assert in the answer all exemptions
provided for by chapter 6.27 RCW to which the wage earner is entitled.
(5) In addition to the procedure for collection of a 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 a court of
competent jurisdiction of the county where the violation is alleged to
have occurred.