BILL REQ. #:  H-0392.1 

Read first time 01/15/2003.   Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions & Insurance.

     AN ACT Relating to the mortgage lending fraud prosecution account; adding a new section to chapter 36.22 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 43.320 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 36.22 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a surcharge of two dollars shall be charged by the county auditor at the time of recording of each residential first mortgage deed of trust, which will be in addition to any other charge authorized by law. The auditor may retain up to five percent of the funds collected to administer collection. The remaining funds shall be transmitted monthly to the state treasurer who will deposit the funds into the mortgage lending fraud prosecution account created in section 2 of this act. The department of financial institutions is responsible for the distribution of the funds in the account and shall, in consultation with the attorney general and local prosecutors, develop guidelines for the use of these funds to enhance the capacity of the department to pursue fraudulent activities within the mortgage lending process, the attorney general, and local police and prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute mortgage lending fraud crimes upon complaints from consumers.
     (2) The surcharge imposed in this section does not apply to assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.320 RCW to read as follows:
     The mortgage lending fraud prosecution account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from the surcharge imposed in section 1 of this act, except those retained by the county auditor for administration, must be deposited into the account. Except as otherwise provided in this section, expenditures from the account may be used only for deterring, investigating, and prosecuting mortgage lending fraud crimes. Only the director of the department of financial institutions or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The director shall transfer all deposits into the account that exceed seven hundred thousand dollars during any fiscal year to the Washington housing trust fund. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.