Section 18420 - Authority of commissioner as conservator or liquidatorThe commissioner, as conservator or liquidator, after taking possession of the company, shall, in his or her name, in the name of the company, in the name of both, or otherwise, have authority to do all of the following:
(a) Collect all obligations and money due the company.(b) Exercise and possess all the rights, powers and privileges of the company, its officers and directors.(c) Institute, prosecute, maintain, defend, intervene, and otherwise participate in any and all actions, suits, or other legal proceedings by and against the conservator or liquidator or company, or in which the conservator, the company or its creditors or debtors, or any of them, have an interest, and in every way to represent the company, its creditors, and debtors.(d) Execute, acknowledge, and deliver any and all deeds, contracts, leases, assignments, bills of sale, releases, extensions, satisfactions, and other instruments necessary or proper for any purposes.(e) Be the custodian of all moneys collected by the commissioner or coming into his or her possession in the course of any proceeding under this chapter, but he or she may deposit those moneys, or any part thereof, in a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.(f) Invest or reinvest such portions of funds and assets of the company, in a manner as he or she may deem suitable for the best interests of the creditors of the company.(g) To revise, refinance, extend, or settle any loan or obligation upon those terms and conditions as he or she may deem to be most advantageous to the company.(h) To sell, compound, compromise or assign for the purpose of collection upon those terms and conditions he or she deems best, any bad or doubtful debts due the company.(i) To compound, compromise, or in any manner negotiate settlements of claims against the company upon those terms and conditions as he or she shall deem to be most advantageous to the company.(j) To sell, acquire, hypothecate, encumber, lease, improve, abandon, or otherwise dispose of or deal with any real or personal property which has come into ownership of the company by way of repossession, foreclosure, execution, suit or by other such means on a basis of reasonable market value, without notice, for cash, on terms, or upon such other terms and conditions as he or she may deem proper.(k) To settle, compromise, or obtain the release of, for cash or other consideration, claims and demands against the company or the conservator.(l) To sell for cash or on terms, exchange, or otherwise dispose of, in whole or in part, any or all the assets and property of the company, real, personal, and mixed, tangible and intangible, of any nature.(m) Execute, acknowledge, and deliver any and all deeds, contracts, leases, assignments, bills of sale, releases, extensions, satisfactions, and any other instruments necessary or proper for any purposes, including, but not limited to, the effectuation, termination, or modification of any sale, lease, or transfer of real, personal, or mixed property, or that shall be necessary or proper to liquidate or carry on the business of the company. Any deed or other instrument executed pursuant to the authority hereby given shall be as valid and effectual for all purposes as if it had been executed as the act and deed of the company.(n) Pay out and expend such sums as the commissioner deems necessary or advisable including the following: (1) To pay off or discharge any taxes, assessments, liens, claims, or charges of any nature against the company, the conservator or liquidator, any asset or property of any nature of the company, or upon any asset or property on which the company or conservator or liquidator has an interest of a value of any nature.(2) For or in connection with the preservation, maintenance, conservation, protection, remodeling, repair, rehabilitation, or improvement of any asset or property of any nature of the company.(3) To pay all costs and expenses of the conservatorship or liquidation and all costs of carrying out or exercising the commissioner's rights, powers, privileges, and duties as conservator.(4) To pay valid creditor obligations, interest owed on debts, debts incurred during conservatorship or liquidation and all other debts of the company or conservatorship or liquidation of any nature.(5) To pay all costs and expenses in the operation of the conservatorship or liquidation of the company.(o) Do such things, and have such rights, powers, privileges, immunities and duties, whether or not otherwise granted in this chapter, as shall be authorized, directed, conferred, or imposed from time to time in specific cases by order of the court.Added by Stats. 1985, Ch. 140, Sec. 1. Effective July 1, 1985.