Washington State Real Estate Commission

Key Takeaways

• The Washington State Real Estate Commission has seven seats: the Director of Licensing, who chairs it, plus six members appointed by the governor.
• RCW 18.85.021 says the six members act in an advisory capacity to the director. The commission does not issue licenses and does not discipline licensees.
• Commission members serve six-year terms, and at least two must come from west of the Cascade Range and at least two from east of it.
• The commission meets four times a year, or at the call of the director, under RCW 18.85.025.

What It Means

The Washington State Real Estate Commission is an advisory body, and the word advisory carries the whole idea. RCW 18.85.021 creates it, and it consists of the Director Of Licensing, who serves as chair, and six members the governor appoints. Those six bring the industry's own experience to the table, since an appointee must have five years of real estate brokerage experience in Washington or at least three years of investigative work tied to real estate licensing. Terms run six years, vacancies are filled by the governor for the unexpired term, and the seats are spread across the state, with at least two members from west of the Cascade Range and at least two from east of it. The commission elects a vice chair each year to run a meeting when the director is absent.

What the commission does is counsel the director on rules, education, examination content, and the practical effect of licensing policy on the people working under it. What it does not do is act. It cannot grant a license, deny one, adopt a rule on its own, or discipline a broker. Those powers belong to the director, and that split is what most exam questions about this body are testing.

How It Works in Washington

Washington keeps advice and authority in separate hands. RCW 18.85.021 establishes the real estate commission of the state of Washington, consisting of the director who is the chair of the commission and six commission members who shall act in an advisory capacity to the director. RCW 18.85.025 sets the rhythm: the commission shall meet four times a year or at the call of the director, and the six members are compensated under RCW 43.03.240 plus travel expenses.

The power sits one section over. RCW 18.85.041 gives the director authority to issue rules governing the activities of real estate brokers, managing brokers, designated brokers, and real estate firms, to grant or deny licenses, to approve real estate schools and instructors, to set standards for applicants licensed in other jurisdictions, and to take disciplinary action, including fines of up to one thousand dollars per day per violation. RCW 18.85.361 lists the grounds for that discipline. So when a Washington license is suspended, the order comes from the Director of Licensing at the Department Of Licensing, not from the commission that advised on the rule the licensee broke.

Example

In March, broker Theo Ramsey of Yakima takes a $12,000 earnest money check on a $412,000 sale and leaves it in his desk for nine days instead of depositing it in the firm's Trust Account by the next banking day, as WAC 308-124E-105 requires. A complaint reaches the Department of Licensing in May. The commission plays no part in what follows: an investigator opens the file, the case goes to the director, and in October the director issues an order suspending Theo's license for thirty days and imposing a $2,500 fine. Where the commission does show up is upstream. At a quarterly meeting the year before, the six members told the director that brokers in small firms were confusing the next banking day rule with the deposit language in their purchase and sale agreements, and recommended plainer wording in the continuing education curriculum. The director adopted the recommendation. The advice shaped the class Theo sat through. The order that suspended him came from the director.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• The Washington State Real Estate Commission does not discipline licensees. The Director of Licensing issues the orders, suspends and revokes licenses, and imposes the fines.
• The commission has six appointed members and the Director of Licensing chairs it by statute. The members elect only a vice chair, who runs a meeting when the director is absent.
• Washington's commission is not the licensing agency. In many states the real estate commission is the agency itself, but in Washington the agency is the Department of Licensing and the commission only advises its director.
• Rulemaking authority belongs to the director under RCW 18.85.041. The commission may advise on a rule but cannot adopt one.