2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 18 - Financial Institutions, Insurance › Chapter 744 - Insurance Producers; Life Settlement Providers, Brokers and Contracts; Adjusters; Consultants; Third Party Administrators; Reinsurance Intermediaries; Limited Licenses › Section 744.644 - Prohibited conduct; penalties and disciplinary action; hearings.

(1) A licensee or an applicant for a license to engage in business as an insurance consultant may not:
(a) Act in an incompetent or untrustworthy manner.
(b) Falsify or act dishonestly with respect to an application for a license or an amendment to the license or with respect to an examination related to obtaining, renewing or reinstating a license.
(c) Misappropriate, withhold illegally or convert to the applicant’s or licensee’s own use any money or property that belongs to or that the applicant or licensee receives from a policyholder, insurer, beneficiary or other person while the applicant or licensee engages in business as an insurance consultant or otherwise transacts insurance in this state.
(d) Commit an offense that results in a conviction in any United States jurisdiction for any felony or a misdemeanor that involves fraud, dishonesty or a breach of trust. For the purpose of this paragraph, the record of a conviction is conclusive evidence of the conviction.
(e) Materially misrepresent the terms of an insurance policy or proposed insurance policy.
(f) Engage in a fraudulent or dishonest practice in the course of transacting insurance or cause injury or loss to the public because the applicant or licensee is incompetent or untrustworthy.
(g) Fail to pay a fee or charge or a civil penalty that the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services has assessed and that has become final after appeal or by operation of law.
(h) Effect insurance on the applicant or licensee’s property or against the applicant’s or licensee’s liability.
(i) Commit an act that results in another jurisdiction’s canceling, suspending, revoking or refusing to renew a license or other evidence of authority to act as an adjuster, an insurance consultant or an insurance producer. For the purpose of this paragraph, the record of the cancellation, suspension, revocation or refusal is conclusive evidence of the cancellation, suspension, revocation or refusal.
(j) Commit an act that results in a state or federal agency canceling, suspending, revoking or refusing to renew a license to practice law or a license that authorizes the applicant or licensee to engage in business under another regulatory authority if the cancellation, suspension, revocation or refusal related to the business of an adjuster, insurance consultant or insurance producer or if the act involved dishonesty, fraud or deception. For the purpose of this paragraph, the record of the cancellation, suspension, revocation or refusal is conclusive evidence of the cancellation, suspension, revocation or refusal.
(k) Fail to comply with continuing education requirements that apply to the license or to a category of insurance business or class of insurance, unless the director has waived the requirements.
(L) Act dishonestly, fraudulently or deceptively in a business that is not related to engaging in business as an adjuster, an insurance consultant or an insurance producer.
(m) Fail to comply with an administrative or court order that imposes a child support obligation.
(n) Fail to pay state income tax or to comply with an administrative or court order that directs the applicant or licensee to pay state income tax that remains unpaid.
(o) Evade a provision of ORS chapter 746 or violate or fail to comply with an applicable provision of the Insurance Code.
(2)(a) If a licensee or an applicant for a license to engage in business as an insurance consultant engages in an action or practice prohibited under subsection (1) of this section, the director by order or otherwise may:
(A) Refuse to issue a license to an applicant to engage in business as an insurance consultant;
(B) Suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a licensee’s license;
(C) Suspend or revoke a licensee’s authority to transact a category of insurance business or class of insurance; or
(D) Refuse to authorize an applicant or licensee to transact a category of insurance business or class of insurance.
(b) Before taking a disciplinary action against a licensee under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the director shall notify the licensee and offer the licensee an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with ORS chapter 183.
(3) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may take a disciplinary action described in subsection (2) of this section if the director finds that:
(a) A director, member or officer of a licensee that is a business entity, or another person that directly or indirectly has the power to direct the management, control or activities of the business entity, engaged in an action prohibited under subsection (1) of this section; or
(b) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services erred in approving, issuing, renewing or reinstating a license under ORS 744.614.
(4)(a) For a violation of a prohibition described in subsection (1) of this section and in lieu of taking a disciplinary action against a licensee under subsection (2) of this section, the director may set a period of probation with respect to a license to engage in business as an insurance consultant or with respect to an authorization to engage in any category of insurance business or class of insurance. In setting the probationary period, the director shall specify conditions that a licensee must meet in order to end the probationary period.
(b) The director may set the probationary period to begin at the time the director issues, renews, amends or reinstates a license or adds a category of insurance business or class of insurance to the license.
(c) Before setting a period of probation for a licensee under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the director shall notify the licensee and offer the licensee an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with ORS chapter 183.
(d) During any probationary period, the director may take any disciplinary action described in subsection (2) of this section. [2019 c.151 §17]