The proposed bill introduces the West Virginia Abolishment of Wholesaling Act, which aims to abolish and prohibit the practice of wholesaling in the state. Wholesaling is defined as entering into a contract for the purchase of real property with the intent to assign or transfer the contractual rights to a third party for a fee, without taking legal title to the property. The bill specifies that transactions where the purchaser takes legal title before transferring the property are exempt from this prohibition.

Additionally, the bill outlines remedies and civil penalties for unlawful wholesaling. It allows sellers to cancel contracts for sale of residential real property without penalty if wholesaling is involved, and they may retain any earnest money paid. Buyers are also granted the right to cancel contracts without penalty and must be refunded any earnest money if wholesaling occurs. Furthermore, buyers can pursue civil action against wholesalers, potentially recovering damages along with a civil penalty of 20 percent of the difference between the sales price and the total consideration received by the wholesaler.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 30-40A-1, 30-40A-2, 30-40A-3