H. B. 4607
(By Delegates Beane, Yost, Talbott, Blair,
Ennis, Iaquinta and Swartzmiller)
[Introduced February 17, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §30-40-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Real Estate Commission
generally; providing for criminal background checks through
the Federal Bureau of Investigation on all applicants; and
providing for the assessment of a fee to cover the cost of the
criminal background check.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-40-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 40. WEST VIRGINIA REAL ESTATE LICENSE ACT.
§30-40-7. General powers and duties.
The commission has all the powers set forth in article one of
this chapter and in addition:
(a) May sue and be sued in its official name as an agency of
this state;
(b) Shall employ an executive director and shall fix his or
her compensation subject to the general laws of this state. The
commission shall determine the duties of the executive director as
it shall consider necessary and appropriate to discharge the duties
imposed by the provisions of this code;
(c) Shall employ or contract with such other investigators,
hearing examiners, attorneys, consultants, clerks and assistants as
the commission considers necessary and determine the duties and fix
the compensation of such investigators, clerks and assistants
subject to the general laws of this state;
(d) Shall have the authority to issue subpoenas and subpoenas
duces tecum through any member, its executive director or any duly
authorized representative;
(e) Shall prescribe, examine and determine the qualifications
of any applicant for a license;
(f) Shall provide for an appropriate examination of any
applicant for a license;
(g) May enter into agreements with other jurisdictions whereby
the license issued by another jurisdiction may be recognized as
successfully qualifying a nonresident for a license in this state;
(h) Shall issue, renew, deny, suspend, revoke or reinstate
licenses and take disciplinary action against any licensee;
(I) May investigate or cause to be investigated alleged
violations of the provisions of this article, the rules promulgated hereunder and the orders or final decisions of the commission;
(j) Shall conduct hearings or cause hearings to be conducted
upon charges calling for the discipline of a licensee or for the
suspension or revocation of a license;
(k) May examine the books and records relating to the real
estate business of a licensee if the licensee is charged in a
complaint of any violation of this article, commission rule or any
order or final decision issued by the commission:
Provided, That
such examination shall not extend beyond the specific violation
charged in the complaint;
(l) May impose one or more sanctions as considered appropriate
in the circumstances for the discipline of a licensee. Available
sanctions include, but are not limited to, denial of a license or
renewal thereof, administrative fine not to exceed one thousand
dollars per day per violation, probation, revocation, suspension,
restitution, require additional education, censure, denial of
future license, downgrade of license, reprimand or order the return
of compensation collected from an injured consumer;
(m) Shall meet at least once each calendar year at such place
and time as the commission shall designate and at such other times
and places as it considers necessary to conduct commission
business;
(n) Shall publish an annual directory of licensees in
compliance with the provisions of section thirteen, article one, chapter thirty of this code;
(o) May sponsor real estate-related educational seminars,
courses, workshops or institutes, may incur and pay the necessary
expenses and may charge a fee for attendance;
(p) May assist libraries, institutions and foundations with
financial aid or otherwise in providing texts, sponsoring studies,
surveys and programs;
(q) May perform compliance audits on real estate brokerage
offices, education providers or any other person regulated by the
commission;
(r) May provide distance education courses for applicants for
a license sufficient to meet the educational requirements contained
in subsections (a) and (b), section fourteen of this article; and
(s) Shall conduct criminal background checks through the
Federal Bureau of Investigation on all applicants, as the term
applicant is defined in section four of this article, for real
estate licenses and renewals as set forth in this article and may
assess a fee as necessary to cover the cost of the criminal
background check.
(s) (t) Shall take all other actions necessary and proper to
effectuate the purposes of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Real Estate
Commission to conduct criminal background checks through the
Federal Bureau of Investigation on all applicants' licenses and to assess a fee to cover the cost of the criminal background check.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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