BILL REQ. #: Z-0099.4
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Prefiled 01/03/11. Read first time 01/10/11. Referred to Committee on Labor & Workforce Development.
AN ACT Relating to streamlining contractor appeals; and amending RCW 18.27.370.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 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))
twenty days from the date ((the notice was)) it is served upon the
((unregistered)) contractor, individual, or business 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)) individual, business, or 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)) those named 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)) those named 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 contractor)) those named
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)) individual or business 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.