revoked in the District of Columbia or any State within one year prior to date of application."

SEC. 6. (a) The eighth paragraph of section 5 of said Act is amended by striking out the words, "executed by two good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Commission, or".

(b) Section 5 of said Act is further amended by inserting at the end of the tenth paragraph thereof the following:

"In the event the surety becomes insolvent or a bankrupt, or ceases to do business or ceases to be authorized to do business in the District of Columbia, the principal shall, within ten days after notice thereof, given by the Commission, duly file a new bond in like amount and conditioned as the original and if the principal shall fail so to do the license of such principal shall terminate.”

SEC. 7 (a) The third paragraph of section 7 of said Act is amended to read as follows:

"The fee for an original broker's license and every renewal thereof shall be $30: Provided, however, That the fee for an original broker's license and every renewal thereof for individual members, partners, and officers of firms, partnerships, and corporations shall be $30 for the first member, partner, or officer to be designated by the firm, partnership, or corporation and $10 for each additional member, partner, or officer of such firm, partnership, or corporation."

(b) The fifth paragraph of said section 7 of said Act is amended by striking out the words "real estate."

(c) Section 7 of said Act is further amended by inserting a new paragraph between the fifth and sixth paragraphs of said section 7 to read as follows:

"The fees provided herein for any original license shall be reduced by one-half in all cases where the application for such original license is filed between January 1 and July 1 of any year."

(d) The seventh paragraph of section 7 of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"The Commission shall cause to be issued a new license for each ensuing year, in the absence of any reason or condition which might warrant the refusal of the granting of a license, upon receipt of the written request of the applicant and the annual fee therefor, as herein required: Provided, however, That an applicant who, on or before July 1, fails to file said written request and pay the annual fee must comply with all the provisions of this Act applicable to an original applicant except that the Commission may waive the requirement of furnishing proof of competency. The revocation of a broker's license shall automatically suspend every salesman's license granted to any person by virtue of his employment by the broker whose license has been revoked, pending a change of employer and the issuance of a new license. Such new license shall be issued without charge if granted during the same license year in which the original license is granted."

(e) The eighth paragraph of section 7 of said Act is amended to read as follows:

"No person, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, or corporation engaged in the business or acting in the capacity of a realestate broker or a real-estate salesman, or a business-chance broker or a business-chance salesman, within the District of Columbia shall bring or maintain any action in the courts of the District of Colum

bia for the collection of compensation for any services performed as a real-estate broker or a real-estate salesman or a business-chance broker or business-chance salesman, or enforcement of any contract relating to real estate without alleging and proving that such person, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, or corporation was a duly licensed real-estate broker or real-estate salesman, or businesschance broker or business-chance salesman, at the time the alleged cause of action arose.'

(f) The ninth paragraph of said section 7 of said Act is amended to read as follows:

"Every broker licensed hereunder shall maintain a place of business in the District of Columbia. If a broker maintains more than one place of business within the District of Columbia, a duplicate license shall be issued to such broker for each branch office maintained; and there shall be no fee charged for any such duplicate license."

(g) The tenth paragraph of said section 7 of said Act is amended to read as follows:

"When a broker changes the location of his principal place of business he must immediately notify the Commission in writing and return to the Commission his license together with the licenses of all salesmen in his employ, and the Commission shall issue a new license to the broker and to each of the salesmen without charge. Failure to notify the Commission and to return his license when the location of his principal place of business is changed, will automatically cancel the broker's license and the licenses of all salesmen in his employ. However, new licenses for the unexpired term may be issued by the Commission without the payment of any additional fee, provided a written request therefor, accompanied by a new bond, is filed."

(h) The eleventh paragraph of said section 7 of said Act is amended by striking out the last sentence thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "When a salesman shall be discharged or shall terminate his employment with the broker by whom he is employed, it shall be the duty of such salesman to immediately notify the Commission, and it shall be unlawful for him to perform any of the acts contemplated by this Act either directly or indirectly from and after such termination of employment until such time as he has been employed by another licensed broker and a license has been reissued him by the Commission."

(i) Section 7 of said Act is further amended by adding at the end thereof two new paragraphs to read as follows:

"A license issued to an individual cannot be transferred to another individual. However, an individual licensed as a broker may, upon written request to the Commission, change his status to that of an individual broker or to that of a partner of a partnership, or to that of an officer of a corporation, for any unexpired term of his license, without the payment of any additional fee, and such change shall not work a revocation or require a renewal of the bond of any such broker. This provision shall not be applicable to any realestate broker in respect to a change of license to that of a business chance broker or vice versa.

"No license shall be issued to any firm, partnership, association, or corporation unless every individual member, partner or officer of

such firm, partnership, association, or corporation who actively participates in the brokerage business thereof is licensed as a broker. SEC. 8. Section 8 of said Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 8. The Commission may, upon its own motion, and shall, upon the verified complaint in writing of any person, provided such complaint or such complaint together with evidence, documentary or otherwise, presented in connection therewith, makes out a prima facie case, investigate the conduct of any real-estate broker or realestate salesman, or business-chance broker or business-chance salesman, and shall have the power to suspend or to revoke any license issued under the provisions of this Act, at any time where the licensee has by false or fraudulent representation obtained a license, or where the licensee, in performing or attempting to perform any of the acts mentioned herein, has—

(a) Made any substantial misrepresentation;

(b) Made any false promises of a character likely to influence, persuade, or induce;

(c) Pursued a continued and flagrant course of misrepresentation, or making of false promises through agents or salesmen, or advertising or otherwise;

(d) Acted for more than one party in a transaction without the knowledge of all parties for whom he acts;

(e) Accepted a commission or valuable consideration as a realestate salesman or as a business-chance salesman for the performance of any of the acts specified in this Act from any person, except the broker under whom he is licensed;

(f) Represented or attempted to represent a real-estate broker or a business-chance broker other than the employer, without the express knowledge and consent of the employer;

(g) Failed, within a reasonable time, to account for or to remit any money, valuable documents, or other property coming into his possession which belong to others;

(h) Demonstrated such unworthiness or incompetency to act as a real-estate broker or real-estate salesman or a business-chance broker or a business-chance salesman as to endanger the interests of the public;

(i) While acting or attempting to act as agent or broker, purchased or attempted to purchase any property or interest therein for himself, either in his own name or by use of a straw party, without disclosing such fact to the party he represents;

(j) Been guilty of any other conduct, whether of the same or a different character from that hereinbefore specified, which constitutes fraudulent or dishonest dealing;

(k) Used any trade name or insignia of membership in any realestate organization of which the licensee is not a member;

(1) Disregarded or violated any provisions of this Act; (m) Guaranteed or authorized or permitted any broker or salesman to guarantee future profits which may result from the resale of real property, or a business, business opportunity, or the goodwill of any existing business;

(n) Placed a sign on any property offering it for sale or for rent or offering it for sale or rent without the written consent of the owner or his authorized agent;

(0) Accepted a compensation from more than one party to a transaction without the knowledge of all the parties to the transaction; or

(p) Failed to restore the bond to its original amount after a recovery on the bond as provided in section 5.

SEC. 9. Section 10 of said Act is amended by striking out the period at the end of the first paragraph thereof and inserting in lieu thereof a comma, and by adding after such comma the following: "and with the further exception that a nonresident of the District of Columbia need not maintain a place of business within the District of Columbia if he is licensed in and maintains a place of business in the State in which he resides."

SEC. 10. Section 12 of said Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"The exemption contained in this section shall not apply to any bank, trust company, building and loan association, insurance company, or any land-mortgage or farm-loan association, which for another and for a compensation, performs any of the acts defined herein as the acts of a real-estate broker or business-chance broker in connection with any property, wherein such bank, trust company, building and loan association, insurance company, land-mortgage or farm-loan association has no fiduciary interest such as receiver, referee, administrator, executor, guardian, or trustee."

SEC. 11. Section 14 of said Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"It shall be unlawful within the District of Columbia for any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, foreign or domestic, either as owner or otherwise, to offer, give, award, or promise, or to use any method, scheme or plan offering, giving, awarding, or promising free lots in connection with the sale or the offering for sale or an attempt to sell or negotiate the sale of any real estate or interest therein, wherever situated, for the purpose of attracting, inducing, persuading, or influencing a purchaser or a prospective purchaser; or to offer, promise, or give prizes of any name or nature for attendance at or participation in any sale of real estate, by auction or otherwise.

"It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation knowingly to pay a fee, commission, or compensation to anyone for the performance within the District of Columbia of any service or act defined in this Act as the act of a realestate broker, real-estate salesman, business-chance broker, or business-chance salesman, who was not duly licensed as such at the time such service or act was performed, provided that this paragraph shall not apply to the division of commission by a broker licensed hereunder with a nonresident cooperating broker."

SEC. 12. No license heretofore issued under the authority of said Act of Congress approved March 25, 1937, where the application therefor was accompanied by a bond which does not conform with the requirements of said Act as amended hereby, shall be reissued or renewed unless the application for such reissuance or renewal shall be accompanied by a bond in accordance with said Act as amended by this Act.

Approved, August 10, 1939.

[CHAPTER 137-3D SESSION]

[H. R. 8917]

AN ACT

To authorize the construction of a waiting room and comfort station in Commodore Barney Circle, United States Reservation 55-56, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, for the convenience of the public, to permit the Capital Transit Company of Washington, District of Columbia, to construct, maintain, and operate, at its own expense, a waiting room and comfort station in Commodore Barney Circle, United States Reservation 55-56: Provided, That the plans and specifications for this structure shall first be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and the Commission of Fine Arts: Provided further, That the Capital Transit Company is hereby authorized to operate within such structure, either directly or by contract, such concession as in the determination of the Secretary of the Interior or his duly authorized representative may be desirable for the convenience of the public, and apply the revenues derived therefrom toward the cost of maintenance and operation of the structure. In the event the Capital Transit Company shall at any time discontinue the operation of the waiting room and comfort station as herein provided, the same shall become the property of the United States.

Approved, April 22, 1940.