West Virginia Code 30-40-22 – Criminal penalties for violations
(a) In addition to the sanctions imposed by the commission pursuant to this article, any person violating a provision of this article or the commission’s rules is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person convicted of a first violation shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000, or confined in jail not more than 90 days, or both fined and confined;
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 30-40-22
- Broker: means any person who for compensation or with the intention or expectation of receiving or collecting compensation:
(1) Lists, sells, purchases, exchanges, options, rents, manages, leases, or auctions any interest in real estate. See West Virginia Code 30-40-4
- Commission: means the West Virginia Real Estate Commission as established §. See West Virginia Code 30-40-4
- Compensation: means fee, commission, salary, or other valuable consideration, in the form of money or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 30-40-4
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Member: means a commissioner of the Real Estate Commission. See West Virginia Code 30-40-4
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
(b) Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation shall be fined not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000, or confined in jail for a term not to exceed one year, or both fined and confined;
(c) Any corporation, association, or partnership convicted of a first violation of this article or the commission’s rules, shall be fined not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000;
(d) Any corporation, association, or partnership convicted of a second or subsequent violation, shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000;
(e) Any officer, member, employee, or agent of a corporation, association, or partnership, shall be subject to the penalties herein prescribed for individuals;
(f) Each day a violation of this article continues constitutes a separate offense;
(g) In addition to the penalties herein provided, if any person receives compensation for acts or services performed in violation of this article, he or she shall also be subject to a penalty of not less than the value of the compensation received nor more than three times the value of the compensation received, as may be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction. Any penalty may be recovered by a person aggrieved as a result of a violation of this article;
(h) The penalties provided in this section do not apply to a violation of the duties or obligations of a financial institution under the certification required by §30-40-18(j)(7) of this code by a financial institution providing trust fund account services to a broker.