Return to Question

For example imagine a company in Washington that needs a temporary building for its workers to live in during the summer. Instead of bothering with permits, they rapidly construct a dormitory for their employees which is a violation punishable for up to $500/day. They keep the building up for 3 months and then pay a $45k penalty to the state government.

Is there any issue with the company’s management officially deciding to ignore the permit system and just pay the fine? Or in other words, can they be charged with anything besides the known $45k penalty for openly deciding to break the law?

In more general terms, I’m trying to understand if the concept of “treat fines as a convenience fee” applies to businesses as well.

For example imagine a company in Washington that needs a temporary building for its workers to live in during the summer. Instead of bothering with permits, they rapidly construct a dormitory for their employees which is a violation punishable for up to $500/day. They keep the building up for 3 months and then pay a $45k penalty to the state government. For their purposes this is cheaper than getting those employees hotel rooms or waiting for the permits to arrive.

Is there any issue with the company’s management officially deciding to ignore the permit system and just pay the fine? Or in other words, can they be charged with anything besides the known $45k penalty for openly deciding to break the law?

In more general terms, I’m trying to understand if the concept of “treat fines as a convenience fee” applies to businesses as well. I.e. it is commonly said that smoking in hotels is allowed, you just have to pay a $250 fee to do it.

For example imagine a company that owns a historical house in an American city. Keeping it maintained costs a lot of money and it’s not too profitable to rent out. But if you tear it down and pay the $100k penalty for destroying it, you could build a lucrative parking lot on site.

Is there any issue with the company’s management officially deciding to tear the building down and pay the fine? Or in other words, can they be charged with anything besides the known $100k penalty for openly deciding to break the law?

For example imagine a company in Washington that needs a temporary building for its workers to live in during the summer. Instead of bothering with permits, they rapidly construct a dormitory for their employees which is a violation punishable for up to $500/day. They keep the building up for 3 months and then pay a $45k penalty to the state government.

Is there any issue with the company’s management officially deciding to ignore the permit system and just pay the fine? Or in other words, can they be charged with anything besides the known $45k penalty for openly deciding to break the law?

In more general terms, I’m trying to understand if the concept of “treat fines as a convenience fee” applies to businesses as well.