(1) A civil suit against a contractor must be
filed in the superior court of the county in which the work was done or of any
county in which jurisdiction of the contractor may be had. Unless the suit is
filed in a superior court, the department will not be able to direct payment on
an unsatisfied final judgment against a secured contractor.
(2) Notice that a suit has been filed (a
summons and complaint) against a contractor, the contractor's bond, and/or the
contractor's deposit must be exclusively delivered to the department by
registered or certified mail to: P.O. Box 44450, Olympia, Washington 98504-4450
or by any delivery requiring notice of receipt to: 7273 Linderson Way S.W.,
Tumwater, WA 98501. The notice must be addressed to the department and must
include three copies of the summons and complaint filed against the contractor,
the contractor's bond and/or the contractor's deposit. The person filing the
suit must pay the service fee to the department as identified in WAC
296-200A-900.
(3) The summons and complaint against a
contractor must include the following information:
(a) The name of the contractor exactly as it
appears in the contractor's registration file;
(b) The contractor's business
address;
(c) The names of the
owners, partners or officers of the contractor if known; and
(d) The contractor's registration
number.
(4) If the suit
joins a bonding company, the summons and complaint should also include:
(a) The name of the bonding company that
issued the contractor's bond;
(b)
The bond number; and
(c) The
effective date of the bond.
(5) If the suit is against a contractor using
an assigned account in lieu of a bond, the complaint must also include:
(a) The name of the institution where the
assigned account is held;
(b) The
account number; and
(c) The date
the assigned account was opened.
(6) Service is not considered complete until
the department receives the documents in Tumwater with the required fee and
three copies of the summons and complaint.
(7) Within two days of receiving a summons
and complaint, the department must mail a copy of the summons and complaint to
the registrant at the address listed on the registrant's application or at
their last known address provided to the department and to the registrant's
surety.
(8) The department will
return a summons and complaint without it being served, if the department
cannot readily identify either the contractor or bonding company being sued, if
the action did not arise under chapter 18.27 RCW, or if the fee and three
copies of the summons and complaint are not received.
