2011 Oregon Revised Statutes
ORS Volume 3, Chapters 90 - 130
ORS Chapter 97
97.945 Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Protection Trust Fund; fee; rules.

(1) Every prearrangement sales contract or preconstruction sales contract seller shall pay to the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services a $5 fee for each prearrangement sales contract or preconstruction sales contract entered into, to be paid into a special income earning fund in the State Treasury, separate from the General Fund, known as the Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Protection Trust Fund. The fees shall be remitted to the director annually within 30 days after the end of December for all contracts that have been entered into during the 12-month period.

(2) Except as provided in this section, the fund shall be used solely for the purpose of providing restitution to purchasers who have suffered pecuniary loss arising out of prearrangement sales contracts or preconstruction sales contracts. The fund may be used for payment of actual administrative expenses incurred in administering the fund. All moneys in the Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Protection Trust Fund are appropriated continuously to the director for the payment of restitution under this section and the payment of expenses incurred in performing the duties and functions of the director required under ORS 97.923 to 97.949, 97.992, 97.994 and 692.180.

(3) The director shall administer the fund and shall adopt rules governing the payment of restitution from the fund.

(4) Payments for restitution shall be made only upon order of the director where the director determines that the obligation is noncollectible from the certified provider. Restitution shall not exceed the amount of the sales price paid plus interest at the statutory rate.

(5) The fund shall not be applied toward any restitution for losses on a prearrangement sales contract or preconstruction sales contract entered into prior to September 27, 1987.

(6) The fund shall not be allocated for any purpose other than that specified in ORS 97.923 to 97.949, 97.992, 97.994 and 692.180.

(7) If the director proposes to deny an application for restitution from the fund, the director shall accord an opportunity for a hearing as provided in ORS chapter 183.

(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the payment of restitution from the fund shall be a matter of grace and not of right and no purchaser shall have vested rights in the fund as a beneficiary or otherwise.

(9) The status of the fund shall be reviewed annually by the director. If the review determines that the fund together with all accumulated income earned on the fund is sufficient to cover costs of potential claims against the fund and that the total number of outstanding claims filed against the fund is less than 10 percent of the fund s current balance, then payments to the fund shall be adjusted accordingly at the discretion of the director. [Formerly 128.435; 2003 c.362 5]