H-2068              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1892

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By House Committee on Housing (originally sponsored by Representatives Nutley and Winsley)

Read first time 3/1/89.

AN ACT Relating to real estate contracts on the sale of residences; adding a new chapter to Title 61 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     All real estate contracts, as defined in RCW 61.30.010, for the sale of one to four-unit, single-family residences or dwellings on real property that is not more than five acres shall contain the following disclosure displayed conspicuously on the face of the real estate contract:  "Under this contract, the seller retains title to the property until the last payment required under this contract is made by the purchaser.  If this contract is not recorded, there will be no public notice or record of the purchase of the real property by the purchaser under this contract; public records will show that the seller has title and the purchaser's interest will not be publicly recorded or known.  The purchaser may want to ensure that the real estate contract is recorded as soon as possible to protect the purchaser's interest, and may also want to take other steps to ensure that the purchaser will own the real property after all payments called for under the real estate contract are made."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     If the disclosure required under section 1 of this act is not provided by the seller, the purchaser may recover all damages suffered by the purchaser that were caused by the real estate contract not being recorded within thirty days from the date the interest represented by the contract has been delivered to the purchaser.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     This act shall apply to all real estate contracts entered into on or after January 1, 1990.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 61 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.