BILL REQ. #:  H-0774.1 

Read first time 01/18/11.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to providing limited access to motor vehicle records for driver and pedestrian safety in private communities; and reenacting and amending RCW 46.12.635.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 46.12.635 and 2005 c 340 s 2 and 2005 c 274 s 304 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 42.56 RCW, the name or address of an individual vehicle owner shall not be released by the department, county auditor, or agency or firm authorized by the department except under the following circumstances:
     (a)(i) The requesting party is a business entity that requests the information for use in the course of business; or
     (ii) The requesting party is a homeowners' association as defined in RCW 64.38.010 that requests the information in connection with matters of driver and pedestrian safety subject to the following conditions:
     (A) The homeowners' association contains at least one thousand residences, restricts access to residents and visitors through gates or other means of access control, and is located in the unincorporated area of a county with a population of less than one million as of the effective date of this section;
     (B) The governing documents of the homeowners' association require certain speed limits on roads within the boundaries of the association; and
     (C) Any individual of the requesting party with access to the information disclosed completes a fingerprint-based background check through the Washington state patrol criminal identification system and through the federal bureau of investigation. The requesting party must be required to pay the current state fees for fingerprint-based criminal history background checks. The requesting party shall submit the fingerprints and required fees for the background checks to the department for submission to the Washington state patrol. The department shall not release the information to any individual who fails to pass the background check;
     (b) The request is a written request that is signed by the person requesting disclosure that contains the full legal name and address of the requesting party, that specifies the purpose for which the information will be used; and
     (c) The requesting party enters into a disclosure agreement with the department in which the party promises that the party will use the information only for the purpose stated in the request for the information; and that the party does not intend to use, or facilitate the use of, the information for the purpose of making any unsolicited business contact with a person named in the disclosed information. The term "unsolicited business contact" means a contact that is intended to result in, or promote, the sale of any goods or services to a person named in the disclosed information. The term does not apply to situations where the requesting party and such person have been involved in a business transaction prior to the date of the disclosure request and where the request is made in connection with the transaction.
     (2) Where both a mailing address and residence address are recorded on the vehicle record and are different, only the mailing address will be disclosed. Both addresses will be disclosed in response to requests for disclosure from courts, law enforcement agencies, or government entities with enforcement, investigative, or taxing authority and only for use in the normal course of conducting their business.
     (3) The disclosing entity shall retain the request for disclosure for three years.
     (4) Whenever the disclosing entity grants a request for information under this section by an attorney or private investigator, the disclosing entity shall provide notice to the vehicle owner, to whom the information applies, that the request has been granted. The notice also shall contain the name and address of the requesting party.
     (5) Any person who is furnished vehicle owner information under this section shall be responsible for assuring that the information furnished is not used for a purpose contrary to the agreement between the person and the department.
     (6) This section shall not apply to requests for information by governmental entities or requests that may be granted under any other provision of this title expressly authorizing the disclosure of the names or addresses of vehicle owners.
     (7) This section shall not apply to title history information under RCW 19.118.170.