(b) The director by rule may require an applicant to submit the application described in paragraph (a) of this subsection to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System instead of, or in addition to, submitting the application to the director.
(2)(a) An applicant shall submit with or as part of an application under subsection (1) of this section:
(A) Fingerprints from all of the applicant’s controllers and managers;
(B) A unique identifier that the applicant applies for and receives from the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System;
(C) The name and address of the applicant’s registered agent in this state;
(D) The street address of the applicant’s principal place of business and of each branch office in this state at or from which the applicant will service a student loan;
(E) The name of the manager of each branch office the applicant maintains in this state;
(F) The assumed business name, if any, that the applicant intends to use or under which the applicant intends to operate; and
(G) Other information the director requires to conduct a state and national criminal background history and background check and evaluate the application.
(b) The director by rule may modify or waive, for an application to renew a license, any requirement under paragraph (a) of this subsection that the director determines is not necessary for evaluating or approving the application for renewal.
(3) At the time an applicant submits an application under subsection (1) of this section, the applicant shall also:
(a) Pay to the director a fee in an amount that the director specifies by rule. The director shall specify a fee that is sufficient, when aggregated with fees from other applicants, to meet the director’s cost of administering ORS 725A.500 to 725A.530.
(b) Submit to the director a corporate surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit issued by an insured institution, as defined in ORS 706.008, that runs to the State of Oregon in an amount the director specifies by rule. If the applicant seeks to renew a license and previously submitted a corporate surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit, the applicant shall show that the corporate surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit remains effective in the amount the director specifies.
(4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the director may not issue or renew a license under this section unless the director finds that:
(A) The applicant submitted a complete application that does not contain a material misstatement;
(B) The application identifies a registered agent in this state;
(C) The application names a manager for each of the applicant’s branch offices in this state;
(D) The applicant and the applicant’s controllers, registered agents and managers have not pleaded guilty or no contest in, or been convicted by, a state, federal, foreign or military court:
(i) In the seven years before the date of the application, if the plea or conviction was for a felony, or for a misdemeanor an essential element of which involved a false statement or dishonesty; or
(ii) At any time before the date of the application if the plea or conviction was for a felony an element of which was fraud, dishonesty, a breach of trust or laundering a monetary instrument;
(E) The applicant and the applicant’s controllers, registered agents and managers have demonstrated adequate financial responsibility, character and general fitness to command the confidence of the community and warrant a determination that the applicant will operate honestly, fairly and efficiently under the provisions of ORS 725A.500 to 725A.530;
(F) The applicant has paid the fee and submitted the corporate surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit required under subsection (3) of this section; and
(G) The applicant has passed the director’s background checks and has satisfied any other criteria for evaluating the applicant’s financial responsibility and fitness that the director specifies by rule.
(b) An applicant need not report a conviction on an application under this section if the conviction was later pardoned or expunged.
(c)(A) The director shall:
(i) Find that an applicant that services a student loan under a contract with the United States Secretary of Education under 20 U.S.C. 1087f meets the criteria set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection without the need to comply with the procedures set forth in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, except that the applicant must pay the fee required under subsection (3) of this section and identify a registered agent in this state or appoint the director as the applicant’s registered agent; and
(ii) Issue and renew a license for an applicant that is described in and complies with the provisions of sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, a licensee that obtains a license under this paragraph is subject to all of the requirements and conditions set forth in ORS 725A.500 to 725A.530.
(d) A licensee that obtained a license under paragraph (c) of this subsection shall notify the director in writing within seven days after the date on which the contract described in paragraph (c)(A) of this subsection expires or terminates. At the expiration or termination of the contract, the licensee becomes subject to the criteria set forth in this subsection and subsections (2) and (3) of this section and, to continue to service a student loan in this state, must meet the criteria within 30 days after the date on which the contract expires or terminates. The director shall suspend the license of a licensee described in this paragraph that fails to meet the criteria.
(5)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the director may deny, revoke or decline to renew a license if an applicant, a licensee or a person that services a student loan:
(A) Does not meet the criteria set forth in subsection (4) of this section that the director has not waived or modified under subsection (2)(b) of this section;
(B) Engages in a course of conduct that violates state or federal law or that constitutes fraudulent, deceptive or dishonest dealing;
(C) Has had a license to service a student loan denied or revoked in another jurisdiction;
(D) Fails or refuses to comply with the director’s written request under ORS 725A.524 to respond to a complaint against the applicant or licensee; or
(E) Fails or refuses to comply with a final order the director issued.
(b) The director shall provide a licensee with notice and an opportunity for a hearing under ORS chapter 183 before revoking or declining to renew a license.
(c) The director may not deny, revoke or decline to renew a license the director issues under subsection (4)(c) of this section, but the director may place conditions on issuing or renewing the license.
(6)(a) A license that the director issues or renews under this section expires on December 31 of the calendar year in which the director issued or renewed the license and is not transferable or assignable. A licensee shall display a copy of the license at the licensee’s principal place of business and at each branch office in this state at or from which the licensee services a student loan.
(b) An applicant that intends to renew a license shall apply for the renewal at least 30 days before the license expires.
(c) A licensee may reinstate a license that has expired only if the licensee applies to renew the license under this section within the time permitted by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.
(d) A licensee may not service a student loan during a period in which the licensee has applied to reinstate a license unless the director has given conditional approval to the licensee. The conditional approval may specify which accounts the licensee may service and which services the licensee may provide during the period in which the licensee’s application for reinstatement is pending.
(e) A licensee that ceases servicing student loans in this state or otherwise ceases transacting business in this state shall, within 10 days after doing so, surrender to the director any unexpired license the director issued under this section. A licensee’s surrender of a license under this paragraph does not reduce or eliminate any civil or criminal liability that arises from any of the licensee’s acts or omissions that occurred before the surrender. [2021 c.651 §3]
Note: 725A.506 becomes operative July 1, 2022. See section 13, chapter 651, Oregon Laws 2021.