The following criteria will be considered by the director when deciding whether to grant a licensed escrow agent a waiver from the errors and omissions policy requirement under RCW 18.44.201:

(1) Whether the director has determined pursuant to RCW 18.44.221 that an errors and omissions policy is not reasonably available to a substantial number of licensed escrow agents;

(2) Whether purchasing an errors and omissions policy would be cost-prohibitive for the licensed escrow agent requesting the exemption;

(3) Whether a licensed escrow agent has wilfully violated the provisions of chapter 18.44 RCW, which violation thereby resulted in the termination of the agent's certificate, or engaged in any other conduct resulting in the termination of the escrow certificate;

(4) Whether a licensed escrow agent has paid claims directly or through an errors and omissions carrier, exclusive of costs and attorney fees, in excess of ten thousand dollars in the calendar year preceding the year for which the waiver is requested;

(5) Whether a licensed escrow agent has paid claims directly or through an errors or omissions insurance carrier, exclusive of costs and attorney fees, totaling in excess of twenty thousand dollars in the three calendar years preceding the calendar year for which the exemption is requested; and

(6) Whether the licensed escrow agent has been convicted of a crime involving honesty or moral turpitude.

These criteria are not intended to be a wholly inclusive list of factors to be applied by the director when considering the merits of a licensed escrow agent's request for a waiver of the required errors and omissions policy.

Effective date—Severability—1987 c 471: See notes following RCW 18.44.231.