(1) Any consignor who believes he or she has a valid claim against the bond of a commission merchant or dealer shall file a claim with the director.

Terms Used In Washington Code 20.01.240

  • Agricultural product: means any unprocessed horticultural, vermicultural and its by-products, viticultural, berry, poultry, poultry product, grain, bee, or other agricultural products. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Commission merchant: means any person who receives on consignment for sale or processing and sale from the consignor thereof any agricultural product for sale on commission on behalf of the consignor, or who accepts any farm product in trust from the consignor thereof for the purpose of resale, or who sells or offers for sale on commission any agricultural product, or who in any way handles for the account of or as an agent of the consignor thereof, any agricultural product. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Consignor: means any producer, person, or his or her agent who sells, ships, or delivers to any commission merchant, dealer, cash buyer, or agent, any agricultural product for processing, handling, sale, or resale. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Dealer: means any person other than a cash buyer, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, who solicits, contracts for, or obtains from the consignor thereof for reselling or processing, title, possession, or control of any agricultural product, or who buys or agrees to buy any agricultural product from the consignor thereof for sale or processing and includes any person, other than one who acts solely as a producer, who retains title in an agricultural product and delivers it to a producer for further production or increase. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Director: means the director of agriculture or a duly authorized representative. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Licensee: means any person or business licensed under this chapter as a commission merchant, dealer, limited dealer, broker, cash buyer, or agent. See Washington Code 20.01.010
  • Limited dealer: means any person who buys, agrees to buy, or pays for the production or increase of any agricultural product by paying to the consignor at the time of obtaining possession or control of any agricultural product the full agreed price of the agricultural product and who operates under the alternative bonding provision in RCW 20. See Washington Code 20.01.010
(2) In the case of a claim against the bond of a commission merchant or dealer in hay or straw, default occurs when the licensee fails to make payment within thirty days of the date the licensee took possession of the hay or straw or at a date agreed to by both the consignor and commission merchant or dealer in written contract. In the case of a claim against a limited dealer in hay or straw, default occurs when the licensee fails to make payment upon taking possession of the hay or straw.
(3) Upon the filing of a claim under this subsection against any commission merchant or dealer handling any agricultural product, the director may, after investigation, proceed to ascertain the names and addresses of all consignor creditors of such commission merchant and dealer, together with the amounts due and owing to them by such commission merchant and dealer, and shall request all such consignor creditors to file a verified statement of their respective claims with the director. Such request shall be addressed to each known consignor creditor at his or her last known address.
(4) For claims against a bond that have been filed by consignors prior to the sixty-day deadline established in RCW 20.01.250, the director shall investigate the claims and, within thirty days of verifying the claims, demand payment for the valid claims by the licensee’s surety. The director shall distribute the proceeds of the valid bond claims to the claimants on a pro rata basis within the limits of the claims and the availability of the bond proceeds. If a claim is filed after the sixty-day deadline established in RCW 20.01.250, the director may investigate the claim and may demand payment for a valid claim. The director shall distribute the proceeds of any such payment made by the surety to the claimant on a first-to-file, first-to-be-paid basis within the limits of the claim and the availability of any bond proceeds remaining after the pro rata distribution. All distributions made by the director under this subsection are subject to RCW 20.01.260.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 20.01 Contents