Trunorth Warranty Plans of North Am., LLC v. DCBS

"Determining the intended meaning of a statute is a question of law." DCBS v. Muliro, 359 Or 736, 742 (2016).

Petitioner is a North Carolina company in the business of selling warranty agreements to cover repair costs of commercial motor vehicles and sold several of these types of agreements to individuals or entities with Oregon addresses. DCBS issued a cease and desist to Petitioner, imposing civil penalties and alleging that it had violated the requirements for service contracts in Oregon. Following a contested case hearing in which the ALJ determined that Petitioner had violated ORS 646A.154 - 646A.158, Petitioner sought judicial review. Petitioner contended that the Oregon Services Contract Act ("OSCA") only applies to personal, not commerical, transactions. DCBS argued that the definition of the term "service contract" within the OSCA does require "obligors" to comply with the OSCA, which includes commercial transactions. "Determining the intended meaning of a statute is a question of law." DCBS v. Muliro, 359 Or 736, 742 (2016). The Court reasoned that, because the stautory definition of "service contract" contains no explicit limitation on the kinds of parties or property that are to be regulated under the OSCA, the legislature did not intend to exclude commercial transactions. As such, OSCA does extend to regulate commercial transactions. Affirmed.