BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to check cashers and sellers; amending RCW 31.45.073 and 31.45.170; adding a new section to chapter 31.45 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 31.45.073 and 1995 c 18 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) No licensee may engage in the business of making small loans without first obtaining a small loan endorsement to its license from the director in accordance with this chapter. An endorsement will be required for each location where a licensee engages in the business of making small loans, but a small loan endorsement may authorize a licensee to make small loans at a location different than the licensed locations where it cashes or sells checks or drafts. A licensee may have more than one endorsement.

(b) The director shall not issue any small loan endorsements after the effective date of this act.

(2)(a) A licensee that has obtained the required small loan endorsement may charge interest or fees for small loans not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen percent of the principal amount borrowed. The licensee shall disclose the amount charged under this subsection in writing as a percentage of the amount loaned and shall annualize this percentage by multiplying this percentage by twenty-four for a two-week loan and by twelve for a four-week loan no later than the time the small loan is made. The director may determine by rule which fees, if any, are not subject to the fifteen percent limitation.

(b) In all printed advertising, a licensee shall disclose the following using a five hundred dollar small loan for thirty days as the example: (i) The total cost of the small loan; and (ii) the equivalent of an annual percentage rate which shall be the amount in (b)(i) of this subsection as a percentage of five hundred dollars multiplied by twelve.

(3) In connection with making a small loan, a licensee may advance moneys on the security of a postdated check or draft provided the time period between the date the loan is granted and the date of the postdated check does not exceed thirty-one days. A licensee shall deposit all postdated checks or drafts as soon as practicable after the date of the check or draft has passed.

(4) No person may at any time cash or advance any moneys on a postdated check or draft in excess of the amount of goods or services purchased without first obtaining a small loan endorsement to a check casher or check seller license.

Sec. 2. RCW 31.45.170 and 1994 c 92 s 289 are each amended to read as follows:

Every licensee violating or failing to comply with any provision of this chapter or any lawful direction or requirement of the director is subject, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, to a penalty of not more than one ((~~hundred~~)) thousand dollars for each offense, to be recovered by the attorney general in a civil action in the name of the state. Each day's continuance of the violation is a separate and distinct offense.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 31.45 RCW to read as follows:

Every applicant for a license or endorsement under this chapter made after the effective date of this act shall undergo a record check through the Washington state patrol criminal identification system under RCW 43.43.830 through 43.43.838, 10.97.030, and 10.97.050 and through the federal bureau of investigation. The record check shall include a fingerprint check using a complete Washington state criminal fingerprint identification card. The director shall recover the cost of the record check required under this section from the licensee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. 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 immediately.