ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

18A-044-INS · Department of Insurance · 2018-06-26

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

In the Matter of:

SPONTANEO, AARON MATTHEW

(a/k/a JACKSON, AARON LEE

Petitioner.

No. 18A-044-INS

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION

HEARING: June 12, 2018

APPEARANCES: Aaron Matthew Spontaneo on his own behalf; Ryan Krench, Esq. for the Department of Insurance

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Thomas Shedden

_____________________________________________________________________

FINDINGS OF FACT

On May 3, 2018, the Arizona Department of Insurance (“Department”) issued a Notice of Hearing setting the above-captioned matter for hearing on June 12, 2018 at the Office of Administrative Hearings in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Notice of Hearing shows that the issue is Petitioner Aaron Matthew Spontaneo’s appeal of the Department’s denial of his application for an insurance adjuster’s license.

Mr. Spontaneo appeared and testified on his own behalf, and he also presented the testimony of his wife, Sarah Spontaneo, and father-in-law, Tom Wilkerson. The Department presented the testimony of Aqueelah Currie, its Licensing Supervisor.

On April 6, 2018, Mr. Spontaneo filed with the Department an application for an insurance adjuster’s license using a paper form.

On April 11, 2018, Mr. Spontaneo filed with the Department a second application for an insurance adjuster’s license, this time using an on-line form.

In his April 6th application, Mr. Spontaneo answered “no” to question V(A) that asks if the applicant has ever had any professional, vocational, business license or certificate revoked.

In his April 11th application, Mr. Spontaneo answered “no” to question 2 of the background section that asks whether the applicant has ever been named or involved in an administrative proceeding regarding any professional or occupational license, where involvement is defined to include having a license suspended or revoked.

Mr. Spontaneo was the qualifying party and manager of Castleway Construction LLC that was licensed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (“ROC”). On December 30, 2016, ROC revoked Castleway’s license number 303031. On July 5, 2017, ROC revoked Castleway’s license number 303031 for a second time.

Question V(C)(1) of the April 6th application asks in pertinent part if the applicant has ever been found guilty of, or admitted to a felony. Question V(D) asks if there are any cases currently pending in any jurisdiction accusing the applicant of any issue listed in question V(C). Mr. Spontaneo answered “no” to question V(D).

In his April 11th application, Mr. Spontaneo answered “no” to question 1(B) of the background section that asks whether the applicant is currently charged with any felonies.

On October 11, 2016, a grand jury in the District Court of Douglas County Colorado issued an indictment charging Mr. Spontaneo with one count of Pattern of Racketeering and twenty-one counts of Theft, all of which are felonies.

On April 13, 2018, the State of Indiana Department of Insurance issued its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Emergency Order through which it suspended for ninety days Mr. Spontaneo’s Independent Adjuster license number 3304435. The Order shows that the suspension is renewable as necessary per Indiana Code section 4-21.5-4-5.

In a letter dated April 16, 2018, the Department informed Mr. Spontaneo that his application had been denied.

Mr. Spontaneo requested a hearing, which led to the instant matter be scheduled.

Mr. Spontaneo also requested an informal settlement conference, but through an oversight on the Department’s part, no conference took part.

Ms. Currie provided credible testimony that Mr. Spontaneo’s application was denied because he did not provide accurate or truthful answers on his application. In particular, the Department found that his answers to question V(A) on the April 6th application and question 2 on the April 11th application were false or misleading because ROC had previously revoked Castleway’s license, and that his answers to question V(D) on the April 6th application and question 1(B) on the April 11th application were false or misleading because he had been indicted and charged with twenty-two felonies.

Full disclosure during the application process is important because the Department cannot actively monitor licensees.

Mr. Spontaneo acknowledged that in October 2017 he learned that Castleway’s ROC license had been revoked, but he asserted that he does not know why that license was revoked and he did not belief that it should have been revoked.

Mr. Spontaneo asserted that the felony charges against him were cleared up or would be soon. He added that the felony charges resulted from a business bankruptcy.

Mr. Spontaneo asserted that Indiana’s suspension of his insurance license was a result of Farmers Insurance telling lies to Indiana.

Ms. Spontaneo testified to Mr. Spontaneo’s work ethic. Mr. Wilkerson testified as to his opinion that Mr. Spontaneo’s heart was in the right place and that he was paying the price for getting involved with the wrong people.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Mr. Spontaneo bears the burden of persuasion. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-1092.07(G)(1).

The standard of proof on all issues in this matter is that of a preponderance of the evidence. Ariz. Admin. Code § R2-19-119.

A preponderance of the evidence is:

The greater weight of the evidence, not necessarily established by the greater number of witnesses testifying to a fact but by evidence that has the most convincing force; superior evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to incline a fair and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than the other.

Black’s Law Dictionary 1373 (10th ed. 2014).

The Department has authority to deny an application for an adjuster’s license for the reasons set out in Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 20-295. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-320.02.

The preponderance of the evidence shows that Mr. Spontaneo gave incorrect or materially untrue answers to questions V(A) and V(D) in his April 6th application and incorrect or materially untrue answers to questions 1(B) and 2 in his April 11th application, which are violations of Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 20-295(A)(1), and a basis on which his application can be denied.

Mr. Spontaneo’s Indiana insurance adjuster’s license has been suspended, which is a basis on which his application can be denied. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(9).

Mr. Spontaneo has failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the Department’s decision to deny his application should be overturned.

Mr. Spontaneo’s appeal should be dismissed.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that Aaron Matthew Spontaneo’s appeal is dismissed.

In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order is five days after the date of that certification.

Done this day, June 26, 2018

/s/ Thomas Shedden

Thomas Shedden

Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted electronically to:

Leslie R. Hess, Interim Director

Arizona Department of Insurance