If an act or practice in violation of RCW 19.16.250 or 19.16.260 is committed by a licensee or an employee of a licensee in the collection of a claim, neither the licensee, the customer of the licensee, nor any other person who may thereafter legally seek to collect on such claim shall ever be allowed to recover any interest, service charge, attorneys' fees, collection costs, delinquency charge, or any other fees or charges otherwise legally chargeable to the debtor on such claim: PROVIDED, That any person asserting the claim may nevertheless recover from the debtor the amount of the original claim or obligation.
RCW 19.16.450
Violation of RCW 19.16.250 or 19.16.260—Additional penalty.
Known as the Collection Agency Act
The act spans §§ 19–19 (44 sections).
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case 89 Wash. 2d 23 - Strenge v. Clarke (1977)
Most recently applied in 195 Wash. 2d 365 - Fireside Bank v. Askins (March 2020)
2020 c 30 s 4; 1971 ex.s. c 253 s 36.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.