Oregon Statutes 746.215 – Regulation of depository institutions with regard to insurance sales or solicitations
(1) A depository institution or an affiliate of a depository institution that lends money or extends credit may not:
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 746.215
- Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
(a) As a condition precedent to the lending of money or extension of credit, or any renewal thereof, require that the person to whom the money or credit is extended, or whose obligation a creditor is to acquire or finance, negotiate any policy or renewal thereof through a particular insurer or group of insurers or insurance producer or group of insurance producers.
(b) Reject an insurance policy solely because the policy has been issued or underwritten by a person who is not associated with the depository institution or affiliate when insurance is required in connection with a loan or the extension of credit.
(c) As a condition for extending credit or offering any product or service that is equivalent to an extension of credit, require that a customer obtain insurance from a depository institution or an affiliate of a depository institution, or from a particular insurer or insurance producer. This paragraph does not prohibit a depository institution or an affiliate of a depository institution from informing a customer or prospective customer that insurance is required in order to obtain a loan or credit, that loan or credit approval is contingent upon the procurement by the customer of acceptable insurance or that insurance is available from the depository institution or an affiliate of the depository institution.
(d) Unreasonably reject an insurance policy furnished by the customer or borrower for the protection of the property securing the credit or loan. A rejection is not considered unreasonable if it is based on reasonable standards that are uniformly applied and that relate to the extent of coverage required and to the financial soundness and the services of an insurer. The standards may not discriminate against any particular type of insurer or call for rejection of an insurance policy because the policy contains coverage in addition to that required in the credit transaction.
(e) Require that any customer, borrower, mortgagor, purchaser, insurer or insurance producer pay a separate charge in connection with the handling of any insurance policy required as security for a loan on real estate, or pay a separate charge to substitute the insurance policy of one insurer for that of another. A charge prohibited in this paragraph does not include the interest that may be charged on premium loans or premium advancements in accordance with the terms of the loan or credit document. This paragraph does not apply to charges that would be required when the depository institution or an affiliate of a depository institution is the licensed insurance producer providing the insurance.
(f) Require any procedures or conditions of an insurer or insurance producer not customarily required of insurers or insurance producers affiliated or in any way connected with the depository institution.
(g) Use an advertisement or other insurance promotional material that would cause a reasonable person to mistakenly believe that the federal government or the state is responsible for the insurance sales activity of, or stands behind the credit of, the depository institution or its affiliate.
(h) Use an advertisement or other insurance promotional material that would cause a reasonable person to mistakenly believe that the federal government or the state guarantees any returns on insurance products or is a source of payment on any insurance obligation of or sold by the depository institution or its affiliate.
(i) Act as an insurance producer unless properly licensed in accordance with ORS § 744.062, 744.063 or 744.064.
(j) Pay or receive any commission, brokerage fee or other compensation as an insurance producer, unless the depository institution or affiliate holds a valid insurance producer license for the applicable class of insurance. However, an unlicensed depository institution or affiliate may make a referral to a licensed insurance producer if the depository institution or affiliate does not negotiate, sell or solicit insurance. In the case of a referral of a customer, however, the unlicensed depository institution or affiliate may be compensated for the referral only if the compensation is a fixed dollar amount for each referral that does not depend on whether the customer purchases the insurance product from the licensed insurance producer. Any depository institution or affiliate that accepts deposits from the public in an area in which such transactions are routinely conducted in the depository institution may receive for each customer referral no more than a one-time, nominal fee of a fixed dollar amount for each referral that does not depend on whether the referral results in a transaction.
(k) Solicit or sell insurance, other than credit insurance or flood insurance, unless the solicitation or sale is completed through documents separate from any credit transactions.
(L) Except as provided in ORS § 746.201, include the expense of insurance premiums, other than credit insurance premiums or flood insurance premiums, in the primary credit transaction without the express written consent of the customer.
(m) Solicit or sell insurance unless the insurance sales activities of the depository institution or affiliate are, to the extent practicable, physically separated from areas where retail deposits are routinely accepted by depository institutions.
(n) Solicit or sell insurance unless the depository institution or affiliate maintains separate and distinct books and records relating to the insurance transactions, including all files relating to and reflecting consumer complaints.
(2) A depository institution or an affiliate of a depository institution that lends money or extends credit and that solicits insurance primarily for personal, family or household purposes shall disclose to the customer in writing that the insurance related to the credit extension may be purchased from an insurer or insurance producer of the customer’s choice, subject only to the depository institution’s right to reject a given insurer or insurance producer as provided in subsection (1)(d) of this section. The disclosure shall inform the customer that the customer’s choice of insurer or insurance producer will not affect the credit decision or credit terms in any way, except that the depository institution may impose reasonable requirements concerning the creditworthiness of the insurer and the extent of coverage chosen as provided in subsection (1)(d) of this section. [2003 c.363 § 3; 2005 c.22 § 497]
See note under 746.213.