(1) "Appropriate court" means the circuit court of a county:

(a) Where one or more of the defendants reside;

(b) Where one or more of the defendants maintain a principal place of business;

(c) Where one or more of the defendants are alleged to have committed an act prohibited by ORS 336.184 and 646.605 to 646.652; or

(d) With the defendant’s consent, where the prosecuting attorney maintains an office.

(2) "Documentary material" means the original or a copy of any book, record, report, memorandum, paper, communication, tabulation, map, chart, photograph, mechanical transcription, or other tangible document or recording, wherever situated.

(3) "Examination" of documentary material includes inspection, study or copying of any documentary material, and taking testimony under oath or acknowledgment regarding any documentary material or copy thereof.

(4) "Person" means natural persons, corporations, trusts, partnerships, incorporated or unincorporated associations and any other legal entity except bodies or officers acting under statutory authority of this state or the United States.

(5) "Prosecuting attorney" means the Attorney General or the district attorney of any county in which a violation of ORS 336.184 and 646.605 to 646.652 is alleged to have occurred.

(6)(a) "Real estate, goods or services" means those that are or may be obtained primarily for personal, family or household purposes, or that are or may be obtained for any purposes as a result of a telephone solicitation, and includes loans and extensions of credit, and franchises, distributorships and other similar business opportunities, but does not include insurance.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection:

(A) "Real estate" does not cover conduct covered by ORS chapter 90.

(B) "Loans and extensions of credit" does not include transactions involving a pawnbroker, as defined in ORS 726.010, that is required to be licensed under ORS chapter 726.

(7) "Telephone solicitation" means a solicitation where a person, in the course of the person’s business, vocation or occupation, uses a telephone or an automatic dialing-announcing device to initiate telephonic contact with a potential customer and the person is not one of the following:

(a) A person who is a broker-dealer or salesperson licensed under ORS 59.175, or a mortgage banker or mortgage broker licensed under ORS 86A.106, when the solicitation is for a security qualified for sale pursuant to ORS 59.055.

(b) A real estate licensee or a person who is otherwise authorized to engage in professional real estate activity pursuant to ORS chapter 696, when the solicitation involves professional real estate activity.

(c) A person licensed or exempt from licensure as a builder pursuant to ORS chapter 701, when the solicitation involves the construction, alteration, repair, improvement or demolition of a structure.

(d) A person licensed or otherwise authorized to sell insurance as an insurance producer pursuant to ORS chapter 744, when the solicitation involves insurance.

(e) A person soliciting the sale of a newspaper of general circulation, a magazine or membership in a book or record club who complies with ORS 646.611, when the solicitation involves newspapers, magazines or membership in a book or record club.

(f) A person soliciting without the intent to complete and who does not complete the sales presentation during the telephone solicitation and who only completes the sales presentation at a later face-to-face meeting between the solicitor and the prospective purchaser.

(g) A supervised financial institution or parent, subsidiary or affiliate thereof. As used in this paragraph, "supervised financial institution" means any financial institution or trust company, as those terms are defined in ORS 706.008, or any personal property broker, consumer finance lender, commercial finance lender or insurer that is subject to regulation by an official or agency of this state or of the United States.

(h) A person who is authorized to conduct prearrangement or preconstruction funeral or cemetery sales, pursuant to ORS chapter 692, when the solicitation involves prearrangement or preconstruction funeral or cemetery plans.

(i) A person who solicits the services provided by a cable television system licensed or franchised pursuant to state, local or federal law, when the solicitation involves cable television services.

(j) A person or affiliate of a person whose business is regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Oregon.

(k) A person who sells farm products as defined by ORS 576.006 if the solicitation neither intends to nor actually results in a sale that costs the purchaser in excess of $100.

(L) An issuer or subsidiary of an issuer that has a class of securities that is subject to section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that is either registered or exempt from registration under paragraph (A), (B), (C), (E), (F), (G) or (H) or subsection (g) of that section.

(m) A person soliciting exclusively the sale of telephone answering services to be provided by that person or that person’s employer when the solicitation involves answering services.

(n) A telecommunications utility with access lines of 15,000 or less or a cooperative telephone association when the solicitation involves regulated goods or services.

(8) "Trade" and "commerce" mean advertising, offering or distributing, whether by sale, rental or otherwise, any real estate, goods or services, and include any trade or commerce directly or indirectly affecting the people of this state.

(9) "Unconscionable tactics" include, but are not limited to, actions by which a person:

(a) Knowingly takes advantage of a customer’s physical infirmity, ignorance, illiteracy or inability to understand the language of the agreement;

(b) Knowingly permits a customer to enter into a transaction from which the customer will derive no material benefit;

(c) Permits a customer to enter into a transaction with knowledge that there is no reasonable probability of payment of the attendant financial obligation in full by the customer when due; or

(d) Knowingly takes advantage of a customer who is a disabled veteran, a disabled servicemember or a servicemember in active service, or the spouse of a disabled veteran, disabled servicemember or servicemember in active service. For purposes of this paragraph:

(A) "Disabled veteran" has the meaning given that term in ORS 408.225.

(B) "Disabled servicemember" means a servicemember, as defined in 50 U.S.C. 3911 as in effect on January 1, 2010, who may be entitled to disability compensation under laws administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

(C) "Servicemember in active service" means:

(i) A servicemember called into active service under Title 10 or Title 32 of the United States Code as in effect on January 1, 2010; or

(ii) A servicemember on state active duty, as defined in the Oregon Code of Military Justice.

(10) A willful violation occurs when the person committing the violation knew or should have known that the conduct of the person was a violation.

(11) A loan is made "in close connection with the sale of a manufactured dwelling" if:

(a) The lender directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the seller, unless the relationship is remote and is not a factor in the transaction;

(b) The lender gives a commission, rebate or credit in any form to a seller who refers the borrower to the lender, other than payment of the proceeds of the loan jointly to the seller and the borrower;

(c) The lender is related to the seller by blood or marriage;

(d) The seller directly and materially assists the borrower in obtaining the loan;

(e) The seller prepares documents that are given to the lender and used in connection with the loan; or

(f) The lender supplies documents to the seller used by the borrower in obtaining the loan. [1965 c.490 §2; 1967 c.599 §1; 1971 c.744 §5; 1973 c.235 §1; 1977 c.195 §1; 1989 c.137 §1; 1993 c.508 §40; 1995 c.79 §328; 1997 c.249 §197; 1997 c.631 §514; 1999 c.59 §189; 1999 c.402 §6; 2001 c.917 §4; 2003 c.364 §52; 2003 c.658 §§11,12; 2007 c.71 §§198,199; 2007 c.319 §§31,32; 2009 c.215 §§1,2; 2010 c.94 §§1,2; 2013 c.1 §§79,80; 2013 c.81 §§23,24; 2019 c.13 §58]