An administrative law judge in Florida has thrown out a Pennsylvania-based life settlement firm’s request to prevent state regulators from reviewing its records.

Florida Administrative Law Judge Suzanne F. Hood recently issued an order dismissing Coventry First’s attempt to withhold access to its records concerning life settlement transactions.

Coventry First, based in Fort Washington, Pa., is expected to appeal Hood’s ruling to District Court, according to Florida officials.

Coventry First wanted access to its books withheld because it alleged that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s exam manuals and procedures for handling access are equivalent to rules, but have not been formally adopted as rules. Therefore, Coventry First argued, they violated state law.

Florida regulators have been seeking access to Coventry First’s books for more than a year as part of their investigation into viatical settlement or life settlement contracts involving state residents. Coventry First is among the largest life settlement firms operating in an industry struggling to find funding to buy life policies in the wake of the recession.

Hood’s order said viatical exam procedures fall under the classification of “internal management memoranda,” an exception to the rulemaking requirements of Florida law.

She also disagreed with Coventry First’s argument that out-of-state company’s records should be treated differently. “In giving [Florida’s insurance office] authority to examine all books and records, the statute does not differentiate between in-state and out-of-state records,” Hood said in her ruling.

With the life settlement market doubling in value, to $12 billion, Florida regulators have been investigating life settlement firm practices to protect their large senior population.

“This is the second time, in both state and federal court, that Coventry has resisted the office’s efforts to examine its out-of-state viatical settlement contracts that reportedly do not involve Florida residents,” said Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty in a statement. “And this is the second legal opinion that affirms our statutory duty to obtain information about Coventry’s overall business practices.”

Earlier this year, Coventry First officials said in federal court argued that Florida regulators had no authority to review its out-of-state policies that the company alleged did not involve Florida residents. However, U.S. District Court Judge Stephan P. Mickle ruled that Coventry is a licensed Florida viatical settlement provider, subject to Florida law as it relates to allowing state regulator review of its business records.

The court also ruled that although the Florida Viatical Settlement Act does not govern or control the transactions that occur in other states, state regulators have the right to review Coventry’s business records, in part to confirm that the transactions are truly non-Florida transactions.