§ 7057. Liquidation orders

(a) An order to liquidate the business of a domestic insurer shall appoint the Commissioner and his or her successors in office liquidator and shall direct the liquidator forthwith to take possession of the assets of the insurer and to administer them under the general supervision of the Court. The liquidator shall be vested by operation of law with the title to all the property, contracts, and rights of action, and all the books and records of the insurer ordered liquidated, wherever located, as of the entry of the final order of liquidation. The filing or recording of the order with the Superior Court of Washington County or the town clerk of the town in which its principal office or place of business is located; or, in the case of real estate, with the town clerk of the town where the property is located, shall impart the same notice as a deed, bill of sale, or other evidence of title duly filed or recorded with that town clerk would have imparted.

(b) Upon issuance of the order, the rights and liabilities of any such insurer and of its creditors, policyholders, shareholders, members, and all other persons interested in its estate shall become fixed as of the date of entry of the order of liquidation, except as provided in sections 7058 and 7076 of this title.

(c) An order to liquidate the business of an alien insurer domiciled in this State shall be in the same terms and have the same legal effect as an order to liquidate a domestic insurer, except that the assets of the United States branch of the alien insurer shall be the only assets and business included therein.

(d) At the time of petitioning for an order of liquidation, or at any time thereafter, the Commissioner, after making appropriate findings of an insurer's insolvency, may petition the Court for a judicial declaration of such insolvency. After providing such notice and hearing as it deems proper, the Court may make the declaration.

(e) Any order issued under this section shall require accounting to the Court by the liquidator. Accountings shall include (at a minimum) the assets and liabilities of the insurer and all funds received or disbursed by the liquidator during the current period. Accountings shall be filed within one year of the liquidation order and at least annually thereafter.

(f)(1) No order of liquidation shall be stayed pending appeal unless the persons challenging the order of liquidation on appeal post a bond satisfactory to cover all legal costs of defending the appeal and all loss and expense costs to the estate attributable to the delay by reason of the stay pending appeal.

(2) In the event an order of liquidation is set aside upon any appeal, the company shall not be released from delinquency proceedings unless and until all funds advanced by any guaranty association, including reasonable administrative expenses in connection therewith relating to obligations of the company, shall be repaid in full, together with interest at the judgment rate of interest or unless an arrangement for repayment thereof has been made with the consent of all applicable guaranty associations. (Added 1991, No. 45, § 2, eff. May 29, 1991.)