Whenever the commissioner shall have reason to believe that any person has violated a cease and desist order issued pursuant to Section 790.05 or a court order issued pursuant to Section 790.06, after the order has become final, and while the order is still in effect, the commissioner may, after a hearing at which it is determined that the violation was committed, order that person to forfeit and pay to the State of California a sum not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) plus any penalty due under Section 790.05, which may be recovered in a civil action, except that, if the violation is found to be willful, the amount of the penalty may be a sum not to exceed fifty-five thousand dollars ($55,000) plus the penalty due under Section 790.05.

For the purposes of this section, the failure to pay any penalty imposed pursuant to Section 790.035 which has become final shall constitute a violation of the cease and desist order.

For any subsequent violation of the cease and desist order or of the court order or the order to pay the penalty, while the order is still in effect, the commissioner may, after hearing, suspend or revoke the license or certificate of that person for a period not exceeding one year; provided, however, no proceeding shall be based upon the subsequent violation unless the same was committed or continued after the date on which the order imposing the penalty pursuant to the preceding paragraph became final.

The hearings provided by this section shall be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, except that the hearings may be conducted by an administrative law judge in the administrative law bureau when the proceedings involve a common question of law or fact with another proceeding arising under other Insurance Code sections that may be conducted by administrative law bureau administrative law judges. The commissioner and the appointed administrative law judge shall have all the powers granted under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The person shall be entitled to have the proceedings and the order of the commissioner therein reviewed by means of any remedy provided by Section 12940 or by the Administrative Procedure Act.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 709, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2003.)