The neon signs in the windows of illicit massage businesses may still be flashing “open,” but state and local officials say they’ve stepped up efforts to turn out the lights.
And in the last two years, state efforts to crack down on the businesses have yielded some positive results.
The state Department of Health has issued about 100 cease-and-desist orders to people practicing massage without a license and collected more than $50,000 in fines. In Clark County, the state health department has taken action and issued fines against 16 people.
And legislation passed last year gives health officials and law enforcement the authority to hold business owners accountable if they allow unlicensed massage practitioners. The legislation was an effort to target owners who may be trafficking women to work in the businesses or who are using the business as a front for prostitution.
But, despite those efforts, the illegal practice of massage continues across the state.
In Clark County, more than a dozen massage businesses advertise under the “adult entertainment” category of Backpage, a classified advertising website. The listings advertise “petite, cute Asian girls” and “new girls” who are “beautiful, hot and (have a) sexy sense of humor.” The advertisements promise customers will “feel like a king” and include photos of women in lingerie.
That’s no surprise to Vancouver City Councilor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, who, before she was a member of the council, worked with her neighbors to draw attention to an unsavory business in her Shumway neighborhood. The neighborhood complaints about the massage business led to investigations by the Vancouver Police Department and the state health department. Ultimately, the business closed in January 2014.
While the business is no longer operating in McEnerny-Ogle’s neighborhood, she knows others like it exist across the county. But she’s optimistic that recent action at the state and local levels will make it more difficult for those businesses to operate in Southwest Washington.
“We certainly haven’t solved it, but we’re happy that we’re taking these little steps to resolve it,” McEnerny-Ogle said.
Cease-and-desist orders
In March 2012, then-Gov. Christine Gregoire signed legislation that authorized the state health department to conduct unannounced inspections of facilities offering massage. Prior to the law’s passage, health officials could only inspect the facilities if a formal complaint had been filed against someone working there.
The law went into effect July 1, 2013. By late 2013, after ramping up the inspection program, the state health department began conducting those unannounced visits, said Dave Magby, executive director of the state Department of Health’s Office of Investigation and Inspection.
“We would go out to these facilities and check for licenses for massage,” said Magby, who retired recently. “And lo and behold, very few people, if any, held any sort of credential.”
State health officials were then able to open an unlicensed practitioner investigation and, upon its completion in one to three months, take formal action, Magby said.
If state health inspectors can prove someone is practicing massage without a license, the state has the authority to levy fines up to $1,000 for each day it can prove the person was violating the law. But, short of actually seeing a person provide massage services, proving the illegal practice can be hard to do, Magby said.
“It’s a very high standard and it makes it very difficult for us,” Magby said.
“Unfortunately, we’re kind of saddled … we can’t just walk into closed massage rooms,” he added. “It’s kind of hard to catch them in the process.”
Health officials may also attempt to interview people who were receiving massages, but they’re not usually willing to talk, Magby said.
“It’s not uncommon for everyone to be running out the back door from us,” he said.
In addition, many of the employees who the investigators encounter don’t have identification and don’t speak English, or at least purport to not speak the language, Magby said.
When they can prove illegal practice, however, state health officials issue cease-and-desist orders and hand out $1,000 fines.
Since the law change, the health department has issued 102 cease-and-desist orders with $1,000 fines. Of those, 51 have paid their fines, which is more than health officials expected.
“Frankly, it surprised us,” Magby said. “A lot of these folks probably think it’s just a cost of doing business.”
In Clark County, the state health department issued 16 cease-and-desist orders in 2014 and 2015. Only three have paid their fines, according to state health department data.
The health department hands the accounts of those who don’t pay their fine over to a collections agency.
“This is such a highly transient population that we don’t hold out a lot of hope to collecting funds,” Magby said. “But that’s not what this is about. This is about getting those illegal people who could potentially hurt patients out of business.”
Action against owners
Sometimes, though, action against the practitioners isn’t enough to stop the illegal practice. That’s why state officials came up with a strategy for holding business owners accountable.
Health officials have caught “a few” people who were issued cease-and-desist orders continuing to practice, Magby said. In those situations, the state health department can issue another order and charge a heftier fine, but, Magby said, “that’s fairly ineffective.”
Health officials could also apply for a Superior Court injunction and hand the issue over to the court’s jurisdiction, but that’s an expensive and complex process, Magby said. State health officials are working with the attorney general’s office to come up with ways to handle those situations, he said.
“It’s not uncommon for us to hear names at one facility and two days later they’re at another facility,” he said. “That’s why we developed a strategy to go after these owners for advertising.”
“We believe that’s going to be one of our more effective ways to combat this illegal activity, is to hold the business owner accountable,” he added.
Last year, the state Legislature passed a bill that broadened the reach of state investigators. House Bill 1252 created penalties for business owners who allow the unlicensed practice of massage or reflexology, which is a method to stimulate reflexive points in the hands, feet and outer ears.
The law, which went into effect in July, makes the first violation a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Subsequent violations are gross misdemeanors with higher fines and more jail time.
The health department only has jurisdiction over the business owners if they’re practicing massage. Fortunately for health officials, state statute identifies advertising massage services as “practicing” massage.
So if a business is advertising massage services and health department investigators cannot identify anyone on the premises with a license to practice massage, the health department can charge the owner with unlicensed massage practice, Magby said.
“That’s been somewhat successful for us,” he said.
Still, a majority of those cease-and-desist orders issued across the state have been to unlicensed practitioners, rather than owners.
In Clark County, only three of the 16 cease-and-desist orders went to owners for advertising massage, according to state data.
“I think being able to hold the business owners accountable is about the only thing we can do, in addition to what we’re already doing,” Magby said.
Local efforts
Some of the cities and counties across the state, however, could probably use more tools to help them crack down on operations within their jurisdictions, he said.
In Clark County, those efforts have already begun.
In August 2014, Clark County commissioners approved an ordinance imposing additional regulations on day spas, massage parlors, public bathhouses and reflexology businesses.
The ordinance requires those businesses in unincorporated Clark County to provide proof of employee licenses issued by the state in order to acquire a certificate of occupancy. The ordinance also requires practitioners to display those licenses, along with a photo of the licensee, in the business.
Since the ordinance passed, the county has had two business applications that fall under the new requirements. Those businesses submitted the required materials and were issued permits, said Marty Snell, the county’s director of community development.
McEnerny-Ogle hopes the city will soon follow in the county’s footsteps. The city’s attorney is drafting a similar policy for the city council to consider in the coming months, she said.
While the city hasn’t taken local action yet, McEnerny-Ogle said the new state laws have helped local law enforcement — a notion Magby agrees with.
“We have been doing quite a bit more coordination with law enforcement agencies,” Magby said.
Joint efforts in Clark County, Yakima and Bellevue have been successful, he said.
Both the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Vancouver Police Department work with the state to conduct investigations into businesses suspected of violating state law.
Officers follow up on complaints from community members, neighborhood associations, business groups, the state health department and other partners and conduct investigations as things come to light, said Sgt. Fred Neiman, sheriff’s office spokesman. Working with partners allows the groups to share key information that could advance an investigation, he said.
“We will continue to address criminal complaints and conduct investigations on illegal massage parlor operations,” Neiman said. “We’ve been successful in the past in closing one business and conducting some criminal prosecutions.”
While more laws are on the books and the state inspection program is more robust, state and local officials still face limitations, Magby said. And those limitations allow the illegal massage business to continue across the state.
“We continue to find it’s frustrating, just the sheer volume of what’s going on out there, and our ability to police what’s going on,” Magby said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
