(1) After the application has been filed, the fee paid, and bond posted, if required, the department shall, if no denial order is in effect and no proceeding is pending under RCW 46.70.101, issue the appropriate license, which license, in the case of a vehicle dealer, shall designate the classification of the dealer. Nothing prohibits a vehicle dealer from obtaining licenses for more than one classification, and nothing prevents any vehicle dealer from dealing in other classes of vehicles on an isolated basis.

Attorney's Note

Under the Washington Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
gross misdemeanorup to 364 daysup to $5,000
For details, see Wash. Rev. Code § 9A.20.021

Terms Used In Washington Code 46.70.051

  • Auction: means a transaction conducted by means of exchanges between an auctioneer and the members of the audience, constituting a series of oral invitations for offers for the purchase of vehicles made by the auctioneer, offers to purchase by members of the audience, and the acceptance of the highest or most favorable offer to purchase. See Washington Code 46.70.011
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Department: means the department of licensing, which shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. See Washington Code 46.70.011
  • Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, and which is required to be registered and titled under this title. See Washington Code 46.70.011
  • motor vehicle dealer: is a vehicle dealer that deals in new or used motor vehicles, or both;
Washington Code 46.70.011
  • Vehicle: means and includes every device capable of being moved upon a public highway and in, upon, or by which any persons or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human or animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Washington Code 46.70.011
  • Vehicle dealer: means any person, firm, association, corporation, or trust, not excluded by subsection (18) of this section, engaged in the business of buying, selling, listing, exchanging, offering, brokering, leasing with an option to purchase, auctioning, soliciting, or advertising the sale of new or used vehicles, or arranging or offering or attempting to solicit or negotiate on behalf of others, a sale, purchase, or exchange of an interest in new or used motor vehicles, irrespective of whether the motor vehicles are owned by that person. See Washington Code 46.70.011
  • (2) An auction company licensed under chapter 18.11 RCW may sell at auction all classifications of vehicles under a motor vehicle dealer‘s license issued under this chapter including motor vehicles, miscellaneous type vehicles, and mobile homes and travel trailers.
    (3) At the time the department issues a vehicle dealer license, the department shall provide to the dealer a current, up-to-date vehicle dealer manual that may be provided electronically setting forth the various statutes and rules applicable to vehicle dealers. In addition, at the time any such license is renewed under RCW 46.70.083, the department shall provide the dealer with any updates or current revisions to the vehicle dealer manual. These updates or current revisions may be provided electronically.
    (4) The department may contract with responsible private parties to provide them elements of the vehicle database on a regular basis. The private parties may only disseminate this information to licensed vehicle dealers.
    (a) Subject to the disclosure agreement provisions of RCW 46.12.635 and the requirements of Executive Order 97-01, the department may provide to the contracted private parties the following information:
    (i) All vehicle and title data necessary to accurately disclose known title defects, brands, or flags and odometer discrepancies;
    (ii) All registered and legal owner information necessary to determine true ownership of the vehicle and the existence of any recorded liens, including but not limited to liens of the department of social and health services or its successor; and
    (iii) Any data in the department’s possession necessary to calculate the motor vehicle excise tax, license, and registration fees including information necessary to determine the applicability of regional transit authority excise and use tax surcharges.
    (b) The department may provide this information in any form the contracted private party and the department agree upon, but if the data is to be transmitted over the Internet or similar public network from the department to the contracted private party, it must be encrypted.
    (c) The department shall give these contracted private parties advance written notice of any change in the information referred to in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection, including information pertaining to the calculation of motor vehicle excise taxes.
    (d) The department shall revoke a contract made under this subsection (4) with a private party who disseminates information from the vehicle database to anyone other than a licensed vehicle dealer. A private party who obtains information from the vehicle database under a contract with the department and disseminates any of that information to anyone other than a licensed vehicle dealer is guilty of a gross misdemeanor punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.
    (e) Nothing in this subsection (4) authorizes a vehicle dealer or any other organization or entity not otherwise appointed as a vehicle licensing subagent under RCW 46.01.140 to perform any of the functions of a vehicle licensing subagent so appointed.

    NOTES:

    Effective dateIntentLegislation to reconcile chapter 161, Laws of 2010 and other amendments made during the 2010 legislative session2010 c 161: See notes following RCW 46.04.013.