ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

19A-079-INS · Department of Insurance · 2019-11-06

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HEARING: November 06, 2019 at 1:00 PM. APPEARANCES: Assistant Attorney General Deian Ousounov, Esq. appeared on behalf of the Arizona Department of Insurance (“Department”) with Wendy Greenwood as a witness. No appearance(s) by or on behalf of DeAndre Rashawn Maze-Carter (“Respondent”). Alexis Ortiz observed. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Jenna Clark. _____________________________________________________________________ After review of the hearing record in this matter, the undersigned Administrative Law Judge makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and issues this Recommended Order to the Director of the Department. FINDINGS OF FACT Background and Procedure 1. On January 12, 2015, National Producer Number 17472653 was issued to Respondent.[1] The license expired on December 31, 2018.[2] Respondent’s address of record is 8809 S Pointe Pkwy E, Apt 2096, Phoenix, Arizona 85044-5789.[3] Respondent’s email address of record is [email redacted].[4] 2. On or about July 09, 2018, Respondent’s former employer, QBE, provided written notice to the Department that it had terminated Respondent’s employment for cause.[5] Specifically, while employed as a Customer Service Associate and Licensed Agent, Respondent falsified a Proof of Insurance document by modifying it to indicate that he was the insured party and a client of the producer when he was neither.[6] When confronted, Respondent admitted his misconduct to his employer and alleged that he had done so to satisfy his auto lender’s requirement that he carry insurance, which he claimed he could not afford.[7] 3. On February 20, 2019, the Department provided written notice via email to Respondent that a complaint had been filed, and asked Respondent to update his contact information with the Department and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.[8] The email was not returned to the Department as undeliverable. 4. On March 26, 2019, the Department issued a subpoena to Respondent which was sent via email and certified mail.[9] The correspondence sent via certified mail was returned to the Department on or about March 28, 2019, as undeliverable due to insufficiency of address.[10] The correspondence sent via email was not returned to the Department as undeliverable. 5. Respondent did not respond to the Department’s subpoena. 6. On September 12, 2019, the Department referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings (“OAH”), an independent state agency, for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether grounds exist to discipline Respondent’s insurance producer’s license, including suspension or revocation, pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A). 7. On September 23, 2019, the Department issued a Notice of Hearing, setting a hearing on November 06, 2019, at 1:00 p.m.[11] Hearing Evidence 8. A hearing was held on November 06, 2019. The Department presented the testimony of Wendy Greenwood, its Licensing Supervisor, and submitted fourteen exhibits. The Notice of Hearing was also admitted into the evidentiary record. Respondent failed to appear. 9. On or about July 09, 2018, QBE provided written notice to the Department, along with forty-eight other jurisdiction and the District of Columbia where Respondent was licensed, regarding Respondent’s termination of employment. 10. During its investigation, the Department made several attempts to contact Respondent. The Department called the apartment complex listed as Respondent’s address of record, but was informed that Respondent did not have a current tenancy agreement there. The Department also called the telephone number on file for Respondent, but the calls went to voicemail identified as belonging to someone named “Brandon.” 11. By the end of the Department’s investigation, eight other states had revoked Respondent’s license and one other state had suspended Respondent’s license.[12] 12. All attempts the Department made to reach Respondent and obtain additional information from him regarding this matter were unsuccessful. 13. Respondent never provided notice to the Department of any disciplinary action that had been taken against his license(s) in other jurisdictions, within thirty-days of each action. 14. Although the Department’s emails reached Respondent’s email address, Respondent never responded to the Department’s subpoena or provided updated contact information. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. This matter lies with the Department’s jurisdiction and was properly brought before OAH for adjudication.[13] 2. The Notice of Hearing the Department mailed to Respondent’s address of record is sufficient, and Respondent is deemed to have received notice of the hearing in this matter.[14] 3. The Department bears the burden of proof to establish that grounds exist to take disciplinary action against Respondent’s insurance producer license.[15] The standard of proof on all issues in this matter is that of a preponderance of the evidence.[16] 4. 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). 5. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(8) includes among the grounds for suspension, revocation, or other disciplinary action against an insurance producer’s license “[u]sing fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility in the conduct of business in this state or elsewhere.” 6. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(9) includes among the grounds for suspension, revocation, or other disciplinary action against an insurance producer’s license “[h]aving an insurance producer license, or its equivalent, denied, suspended, or revoked in any state, province, district, or territory.” 7. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-301(A) provides that “[w]ithin thirty days after the final disposition of the matter, an insurance producer shall report to the director any administrative action taken against the producer in another jurisdiction or by another governmental agency in this state. The report shall include a copy of the order, or other relevant dispositive document.” 8. The material facts in this matter are not in dispute. 9. Respondent’s conduct, as set forth above and in the Notice of Hearing, constitutes a violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(8) for knowingly, willfully, and intelligently engaging in fraud and financial irresponsibility under the guise of conducting business in this state. 10. Respondent’s conduct, as set forth above, constitutes a violation Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-301(A) because he failed to provide notice to the department, within thirty days of each final administrative action that his insurance producer’s licenses had been disciplined, and establishes grounds for the Department to revoke his license under Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A)(9). 11. Therefore, the undersigned Administrative Law Judge finds that the Department has sustained its burden of proof in this matter. 12. Based on the foregoing, grounds exist for the Department’s Director to revoke Respondent’s License pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 20-295(A). RECOMMENDED ORDER IT IS ORDERED that on the effective date of the Department’s Final Order entered in this matter, Respondent’s National Producer License No. 17472653 shall be revoked. 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 will be five (5) days from the date of that certification. Done this day, November 06, 2019.

/s/ Jenna Clark Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted electronically to:

Keith A. Schraad, Director Arizona Department of Insurance ----------------------- [1] See Department Exhibit 1. [2] Id. [3] Id. [4] Id. [5] See Department Exhibit 2. [6] See Department Exhibits 2 and 3. [7] See Department Exhibit 2. [8] See Department Exhibit 4. [9] See Department Exhibit 5. [10] Id. [11] See Notice of Hearing. [12] See Department Exhibits 6-14. By the date of the hearing four other states had revoked Respondent’s license in their jurisdictions as well. [13] See Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 20-282 and 41-1092 et seq. [14] See Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 41-1092.04, 41-1092.05(D), and 41-1061(A). [15] See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-1092.07(G)(2). [16] See Ariz. Admin. Code R2-19-119; see also Vazanno v. Superior Court, Ariz. 369, 372, 249 P.2d 837 (1952).

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Office of Administrative Hearings 1740 West Adams Street, Lower Level Phoenix, Arizona 85007 (602) 542-9826