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Texas Insurance Code - Not Codified - Section 21A.005. Jurisdiction And Venue

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Insurance Code - Not Codified > Texas Insurance Code - Not Codified - Section 21A.005. Jurisdiction And Venue

Sec. 21A.005. JURISDICTION AND VENUE.  (a) A delinquency
proceeding may not be commenced under this chapter by a person other
than the commissioner, and a court does not have jurisdiction to
entertain, hear, or determine any delinquency proceeding commenced
by any other person.
	(b)  A court of this state does not have jurisdiction, other
than in accordance with this chapter, to entertain, hear, or
determine any complaint praying for:
	(1)  the liquidation, rehabilitation, seizure,
sequestration, conservation, or receivership of any insurer;  or
	(2)  a stay, injunction, restraining order, or other relief
preliminary, incidental, or relating to proceedings described by
Subdivision (1).
	(c)  The receivership court, as of the commencement of a
delinquency proceeding under this chapter, has exclusive
jurisdiction of all property of the insurer, wherever located,
including property located outside the territorial limits of the
state.  The receivership court has original but not exclusive
jurisdiction of all civil proceedings arising:
	(1)  under this chapter;  or
	(2)  in or related to delinquency proceedings under this
chapter.
	(d)  In addition to other grounds for jurisdiction provided
by the law of this state, a court having jurisdiction of the subject
matter has jurisdiction over a person served pursuant to Rules 21
and 21a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, or other applicable
provisions of law in an action brought by the receiver if the person
served:
	(1)  is or has been an agent, or other person who, at any
time, has written policies of insurance for or has acted in any
manner on behalf of an insurer against which a delinquency
proceeding has been instituted, in any action resulting from or
incident to such a relationship with the insurer;
	(2)  is or has been an insurer or reinsurer who, at any time,
has entered into a contract of reinsurance with an insurer against
which a delinquency proceeding has been instituted, or who is an
agent of or for the reinsurer, in any action on or incident to the
reinsurance contract;
	(3)  is or has been an officer, director, manager, trustee,
organizer, promoter, or other person in a position of comparable
authority or influence over an insurer against which a delinquency
proceeding has been instituted, in any action resulting from or
incident to such a relationship with the insurer;
	(4)  at the time of the institution of the delinquency
proceeding against the insurer, is or was holding assets in which
the receiver claims an interest on behalf of the insurer in any
action concerning the assets;  or
	(5)  is obligated to the insurer in any way, in any action on
or incident to the obligation.
	(e)  If, on motion of any party, the receivership court finds
that any action, as a matter of substantial justice, should be tried
in a forum outside this state, the receivership court may enter an
appropriate order to stay further proceedings on the action in this
state.  Except as to claims against the estate, nothing in this
chapter deprives a party of any contractual right to pursue
arbitration.  A party in arbitration may bring a claim or
counterclaim against the estate, but the claim or counterclaim is
subject to Section 21A.209.
	(f)  Service must be made upon the person named in the
petition in accordance with Rules 21 and 21a, Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure.  In lieu of such service, upon application to the
receivership court, service may be made in any manner the
receivership court directs if it is satisfactorily shown by
affidavit:
	(1)  in the case of a corporation, that the officers of the
corporation cannot be served because they have departed from the
state or otherwise concealed themselves with intent to avoid
service;
	(2)  in the case of a Lloyd's plan or reciprocal or
interinsurance exchange, that the individual attorney in fact or
the officers of the corporate attorney in fact cannot be served
because of departure or concealment;  or
	(3)  in the case of an individual, that the person cannot be
served because of the individual's departure or concealment.
	(g)  An action authorized by this section must be brought in
a district court in Travis County.
	(h)  At any time after an order is entered pursuant to
Section 21A.051, 21A.101, or 21A.151, the commissioner or receiver
may transfer the case to the county of the principal office of the
person proceeded against.  In the event of transfer, the court in
which the proceeding was commenced, upon application of the
commissioner or receiver, shall direct its clerk to transmit the
court's file to the clerk of the court to which the case is to be
transferred.  The proceeding, after transfer, shall be conducted in
the same manner as if it had been commenced in the court to which the
matter is transferred.
	(i)  A person may not intervene in any delinquency proceeding
in this state for the purpose of seeking or obtaining payment of any
judgment, lien, or other claim of any kind.  The claims procedure
set forth in this chapter constitutes the exclusive means for
obtaining payment of claims from the receivership estate.  This
provision is not intended to affect the rights conferred on the
guaranty associations by Section 21A.008(l).
	(j)  The foregoing provisions of this section
notwithstanding, the provisions of this chapter do not confer
jurisdiction on the receivership court to resolve coverage disputes
between guaranty associations and those asserting claims against
them resulting from the initiation of a delinquency proceeding
under this chapter.  The determination of any dispute with respect
to the statutory coverage obligations of any guaranty association
by a court or administrative agency or body with jurisdiction in the
guaranty association's state of domicile is binding and conclusive
as to the parties in a delinquency proceeding initiated in the
receivership court, including the policyholders of the insurer.
With respect to a guaranty association's obligations under a
rehabilitation plan, the receivership court has jurisdiction only
if the guaranty association expressly consents to the jurisdiction
of the court.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 995, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2005.

Last modified: August 11, 2007