Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews

Quit Pluckin' Around Mr. Hindert

The chicken has clucked  and clucked and "plucked around", rather than offering even a shred of evidence to support his postulate that factoring is route one to structured settlement industry growth.  Patrick Hindert has NOT laid the proverbial golden egg, instead two months of evasion and then a heaping pile of chopped liver.

In two posts dated July 23, 2008 and today Patrick Hindert supports this author's opinion that he is merely an erudite tool for the factoring industry. It turns out as suspected and now confirmed that the recent so-called "structured settlement thought leader conference" was a figment of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers' imagination.

It's NOT all well and good for Hindert to keep blowing smoke, and he offers no solutions. In my opinion he's an empty suit with a text book...a co-authored text book at that.

If Hindert was a true leader he'd offer solutions, explain himself AND quit ducking the challenge to his postulate that has been pending for over 2 months . Time to call the Colonel. Anyone else sick of Hindert pluckin' around? In my opinion this "bird" deserves a spot in "The Big Bucket".

In this author's opinion, Patrick Hindert's continued associate membership in NSSTA and SSP and his being permitted to serve on committees of those associations while simultaneously overtly supporting the factoring industry exposes a massive weakness in these trade associations that is wide open to exploitation.

When competing products to structured settlements offer a solution that CANNOT BE FACTORED, why is the factoring agenda being pushed so much by Hindert?

Read this email that this author obtained courtesy of The Halpern Group. Outside investors are canvassing anyone they can to buy structured settlement payment rights.

-----Original Message-----
From: Werner Lanz [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 12:34 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Structured Settlements

 

Dear Sirs

 

For a number of investors in Switzerland and Germany, we are looking for existing structured annuituies (sic).

We are traders of those policies and intrested (sic) in policies of a price from US$ 20'000.00 up to US$ 100'000.00

and a duration up to 15 years with single or multiple payments.

 

Could you please give us some interesting quotes or send us a pricelist of policies you have for sale?

 

Best regards

Werner Lanz

 

W. Lanz Consulting

Nordstrasse 3A

CH-5032 Rohr AG

Switzerland

 Tel.++41+62 823 96 06

Fax     ++41 +62 823 96 05

DO YOU THINK THIS BOTHERS ATTORNEYS FOR TORT VICTIMS?    YOU BET IT DOES.

 
While Patrick Hindert invokes Nietzsche to support his "birth of a tragedy" here a few more quotes to mull over:

There is no traitor like him whose domestic treason plants the poniard within the breast that trusted to his truth” Lord Byron

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction" Winston Churchill"

"To change and to change for the better are two different things" German proverb      
 
"Truth, Sir, is the cow which will yield such people (skeptics) no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull"   Samuel Johnson

"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken" Warren Buffett
 
"What is the quality of your intent?" Thurgood Marshall

"You've soiled yourself...time for a change!" ...Anonymous


 

 

 

Structured Settlement Quotes More Best Practices

I see that on Speaking of Settlements, my friend Mark Wahlstrom has  brought out the street sweeper this morning on the subject of structured settlement quoting practices. It's a good venting of issues that appear from time to time. It's also nice to see that there are others in the industry who are intent on "cleaning up the neighborhood" of some of its "racoons".

Why would any structured settlement or settlement planning professional not adequately disclose the cost of a structured settlement and the name of the insurer in the illustration in this day and age . What has it been...a quarter of a century since the two Private Letter Rulings which stated that disclosure of cost is not constructive receipt? Some states like NY, MN, FL and MA even require extensive disclosures!

On the issue of rate of return calculations the structured settlement or settlement planning professional must recognize the differential in mortality tables used between different life insurers and the resultant effect on the presentation of any Internal Rate of Return proposal. A 1980 will show a shorter life expectancy than the 2001 tables. Using a longer assumed life expectancy result in a higher internal rate of return. One annuity issuer currently illustrates a to age 90 lifexpectancy for females while another only goes to ages 85 or 86. Those 4 extra years are speculative. It's a peculiarity that you may not notice if not looking carefully. It's a peculiarity that may show a higher IRR from company A that uses a to age 90 female life expectancy assumption versus one that uses a to age 85.

A useful detailed explanation of this can be found at Structured Settlement IRR..Fact or Fiction? in 4structures.com, LLC's  Structured Settlement FAQ

Another critical element and an essential best practice is to use an assumed purchase date to recognize that event sensitive payment dates are affected by funding delays. For example if annuity rates stay the same and funding is delayed two months it will cost more to fund the payments due on "Jenny's birthdays" or

Among other best practices for structured settlement quotes: 

1. Set an expiry date on the quotes
2. Be extra careful when using daily rates.
3. Clearly state that "this is an illustration and not a contract" if that is the case.
4. Confirm selected benefits in writing.
5. Disclose the cost. There is no need to apologize for what things cost.

What Can Happen When Things Go Wrong

• Crutchfield v Ringler Associates, Civil Action No.01-2720 (E.D. La 2002)

More on Structured Settlement Quotes

Structured Settlement Quotes July 10,2008  in Structured Settlements 4Real

Is Newburg Chang Cabal Illegally Profiteering Against The Structured Settlement Industry?

A pair of  individuals  from California with no respect for trademarks have started a site site called structuredssettlements.com (note the double "ss"!) on it appear web pages where the URL (address) includes the names of virtually every structured settlement industry members. Each of these web pages contains numerous links to Structured Settlement Alliance, believed tied in with J.G. Wentworth. The main website page has to do with leading structured settlement buyers 

I speak for myself personally, and my company in saying unequivocably that we are not structured settlement buyers. We are not affiliated in anyway with the Structured Settlement Alliance or  JG Wentworth, nor would we be.   The use of our names is unauthorized. I cannot speak for other companies or individuals in the industry although I suspect many of those have been unwittingly connected through the sleazy scheme.

Click the link below for the Whois record for structuredssettlements.com

Download coolwhois.com - WHOIS search of structuredssettlement.pdf

The site is registered to Paul Newburg  of 1256 Bascom Ave Saratoga, CA 95070
The site administrator is Charles Chang 211 Cedar Street Los Angeles, CA 91801 [email protected]  Telephone 626-872-0162

Are these conniving individuals profiteering off the names and goodwill of other established businesses and professionals though unauthorized use of names and wrongful association, for the benefit of themselves and Structured Settlement Alliance? Judge for yourself!

A sampling of the abuse:
Download http___meligan.structuredssettlement.pdf
Download http___cybersettle.structuredssettlement.pdf
Download http___nssta.structuredssettlement.pdf
Download http___atlas.structuredssettlement.pdf
Download http___summit.structuredssettlement.pdf and the perhaps descriptive
Download http___shithead.structuredssettlement.pdf   

It doesn't take Charlie Chan to figure out that the perpetrators of this scheme may face a flood of cease and desist letters and potential legal action.

CT Congressional Hopeful, Jim Himes, Supports Regulation of Non Traditional Financial Institutions

On the stump in Fairfield, CT yesterday as part of a 17 Towns in 17 Days campaign tour, 4th District Democratic nominee Jim Himes stated that "selling debt (mortgages, loans) should be regulated just as selling securities is".

Having spoken to Himes personally, I know he IS aware of how factoring industry business practices impact tort victims. Absent a miracle for the odious Lee Whitnum in an August 12th primary, he will do battle against longtime incumbent Christopher Shays in what TIme Magazine rated is one of the top 15 House battles in the upcoming November elections.

Should Himes win the election Connecticut will have at least two congressional representatives (incumbent 2nd District Democrat Joe Courtney is the other)  with a strong understanding of a gap that needs to be filled in the regulations.

Structured Settlement Information from RAM Funding Is Full of Errors

Structured Settlement Information provided by RAM Funding is unreliable.

1. RAM Funding makes the misleading statement that structured settlements provide a cash flow that is completely tax liablity free. Structured settlement payments where the periodic payments represent damages excludable under IRC 104(a)(1) or 104(a)(2) are similarly excludable from gross income. the present value of remaining guaranteed lump sum or certain payments may however, be included in the annuitant's estate if he or she dies.
2. RAM Funding makes the misleading statement that a structured settlement annuitant need not worry about investment strategies or not adequately planning for the future. While it is true that one of the benefits of a structured settlement is that the structured settlement annuitant is relieved of the investment burden for the portion of the settlement structured, THIS DOES NOT mean that the structured settlement or annuitant need not adequately plan for the future. Is this sleaze or ignorance? One of the reasons tort victims end up with the "Factoring Butt Heads" or similar companies is that they have failed to adequately plan. Failing to plan for liquidity needs is a common financial mistake, even for those who are not tort victims.
3. RAM Funding misleadingly suggests that structured settlements save you money on attorney fees. Without knowing the nature of a particular attorney or law firm retainer agreement, or applicable statutory fee schedule, the premise of such a statement cannot be universally justified.
4. RAM Funding makes the blanket statement that the tort victim "certainly has the abilty to manage their own money". After observing the level of "financial literacy" in RAM's so-called  "structured settlement faq", in my opinion there are serious doubts as to whether the RAM Funding "Factoring Butt Heads" are qualified for such analysis, not to mention attaching an absolute to the statement.

The Factoring "Butt Heads" ^^^^^^?

• Work with someone who is qualified to advise you on your financial future.
• Seek information only from reliable sources
• A structured settlement is not a ruse.
• Structured settlements have been in place for over a quarter of a century, far longer than the "Factoring Butt Heads"

"Peachtree Has A Girl... "

And [email protected] is her name.

My post PROVE IT Peachtree! Yeah I'm Calling You Out! asks questions of the advertising of cash now pusher Peachtree Settlement Funding (a/k/a Settlement Funding)

Today I received a comment from [email protected] who states  "sorry, but it doesn't say anything about getting cash today. It only refers to "Applying today".You need to read better. Donna".

Download blind_peachtree_supporter_7212008.pdf

No apology necessary [email protected], though greatly appreciated. Clearly her heart is in the right place! But honestly, I'm here to help - what part of Peachtree Settlement Funding's ad where it states "Get Cash For Your Structured Settlement Today!"  or "Get Your Money Now" does [email protected] not understand? 

But perhaps [email protected] can help me - I'm having a little trouble locating where on the Peachtree Settlement Funding advertisement the phrase "applying today" appears as SHE  refers?  If it did then naturally there would be no need for my original post!

In case you misplaced your copy, here's another link to the Peachtree Settlement Funding advertisement
Download get_cash_for_structured_settlements__peachtree_settlement_fun.. 7192008.pdf

If Peachtree Settlement Funding does not deliver cash "today" or "now", AS IT ADVERTISES, then it should not be advertising "NOW" or "TODAY"!

The gauntlet stays down. Peachtree made its bed by using "today" and "now", NOW PROVE IT PEACHTREE!

Halpern "Hysteria" Big Embarassment to SSP and NSSTA?

The current level of Halpern Hysteria is like male salmon desperately swimming upstream to fertilize eggs before they die. If they are not careful they may be gutted by a grizzly instead .

Background:
Two documents have been circulated feverishly in the past week in an attempt to disparage, or to promote their use to effectively disparage Richard Halpern, a leading plaintiff advocate for the last 24 years.

1. A "one off" 2007 New York Supreme Court Decision where a Halpern 130X trust was denied by a judge.
2. A March 10, 2008 letter written by New York Trial lawyer Michael W. Kessler addressed to Professor Stephen Saltzburg questioning points contained in a letter sent in February 2008 on behalf of Richard Halpern by  Professor Stephen Saltzburg of George Washington University Law School to a number of plaintiff trial lawyers, defense lawyers and judges throughout the United States.

Who Is Distributing This Information?

According to our sources:

• Paul Lesti, Lesti Settlements, Los Altos, CA, former President of SSP and NSSTA member at the American Association for Justice (AAJ) meeting,  apparently "accosted" trial lawyer attendees at every turn to hand out copies of the case. Lesti also attempted to distribute copies at the Summit Settlements annual meeting in mid June.
• Rhonda Bentzen, a factoring broker, former structured settlement broker with ties to the SSP, obtained a copy of the Kessler letter and sent it to Jack Meligan.
• Jack Meligan, co-Founder of Settlement Professionals and former President of the SSP received the material from Bentzen and distributed it to his troops, estimated to be close to 30 in number.
• Certain members of Ringler Associates, Inc., who manned the Ringler Radio bus at the American Association for Justice meeting, apparently handed copies of the case to lawyers who boarded their bus.
• A feeding frenzy ensued days after AAJ meeting ended when numerous members of the settlement industry apparently contacted a writer for DealFlow Media Structured Settlements Report in the hopes of broadcasting the material. The result was the opposite of what they hoped. The editors of Deal Flow Media are probably falling off their chair to hear this but in THIS case..."Stay tuned to DealFlow Media Structured Settlements Report for further details".
• A number of sources supplied this author with copies of the material before, during and after the AAJ meeting.
• More are believed to be circulating the material.

Why is an embarrassment to SSP and NSSTA?
I have already covered the 2007 case in my prior post

This author spoke with Michael Kessler last week. I've known Mike a long time.  I understand why he wrote the letter, but learned that he  was unaware of the background that led to the Saltzburg letter.  Perhaps many of the "distributors and promoters" are similarly unaware?

To those unaware,  the February 2008 letter (addressed by Kessler) that was executed by Saltzburg and other distinguished law professors, several past Presidents of AAJ/ATLA, the current sitting President of AAJ, Joan Claybrook, the President of Public Citizen, senior officers of Sun Trust Bank and other prominent trial lawyers to counter what is, in my opinion, a "bogus parallel" drawn between Halpern and convicted felon James Gibson by New York Judge Paul Victor in New York Judicial Institute materials which included portions of a September 2006 letter from NSSTA counsel John Stanton of Hogan and Hartson. Why should it surprise anyone that an individual that has had a presence at 48 consecutive AAJ/ATLA meetings is well connected?

The NJI material contained the statement that the  "NSSTA was asked to provide guidance of its view of the Halpern Trust. Upon inquiry the following explanation and guidance was provided by counsel by letter dated....". The opening sentence was about James Gibson, the convicted felon.

The New York Judicial material with this "bogus parallel", including the Stanton letter, found its way into the hands of certain NSSTA/SSP members who apparently used the material in competition with Halpern. What choice do you have when someone mischaracterizes a critical component of your life's work as being "similar" to that of a convicted felon?

Further, inasmuch as the Saltzburg letter was sent to judges all over the country, the distributors of the material may wish to ask Judge Paul A. Victor whether HE received a copy of the Saltzburg letter and what HIS reaction was.

I accept the risk that this post will make me unpopular with certain 2006 era NSSTA Board of Directors and members of NSSTA because the way I read the September 2006 letter the manner in which the message was delivered was just wrong.  The existence of the letter was apparently kept secret from members as I only learned of it last summer. On March 1, 2008 I asked questions about this in another post and have not received an answer. Now the actions of the particular shoot first and ask questions later members of NSSTA and SSP put the entire membership of their associations at risk.

The irony is that Halpern hates factoring company business practices as much as NSSTA and SSP members do (in some cases more).

With the permission of both Halpern and Kessler this author intends to conduct interviews of both of them.  In the meantime i would ask NSSTA and SSP members to consider the ramifications of using, or continuing to use the material now having "prior knowledge" of the background.

PROVE IT Peachtree! Yeah Im Calling You Out!

This is a public call out to Peachtree Settlement Funding to PROVE IT!

Specifically in this ad Download get_cash_for_structured_settlements__peachtree_settlement_fun.. 7192008.pdf Peachtree Settlement Funding claims the following:

1. Get Your Money Now
2. Get Cash For Your Structured Settlement Today
3. Characterizes the "structured settlement factoring process" as being as simple as connecting, receiving your quote and getting your money (i.e.no mention for any Court approval process that could take 60-90 days)

The operative questions are:

1. Does Peachtree Settlement Funding really pay cash today in exchange for structured settlement payment rights?
2. If you pay cash today how much will you pay today?
3. Is there a cut off time to begin a transaction so that a consumer can get paid today?
4. Is there any additional cost to the consumer that is not in your advertising to get paid today?

Today means the day you receive the request for cash, a day distinct from yesterday or tomorrow

Useless Google Blog Alerts on Structured Settlements That Bombard Us Daily

Google Blog Alert is a service provided by Google that permits a user to grab anything written about a particular subject, such as "structured settlements". Ideally the service is a time saver that helps an individual stay on top of what is being written on a particular subject without having to perform extensive searches. Unfortunately the Google Blog Alert and Google Blog Search have become less useful due to spam bloggers who attach the words "structured settlements" to a host of unrelated topics. While an infrequent slip through might be amusing the extraordinary frequency of these occurrences  combined with apparent omission of lots of legitimate information raises questions about the services.

Many of the spam blogs emanate from hit and run registrations on Google's Blogger/Blogspot blogging platform. A simple fix could filter out many of these if Google wants to.

In early July 2008 this author wrote the following letter to Marissa Meyer VP Search Products and User Experience at Google, Inc. and Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior VP-Products detailing the problem and requesting action.

Download jdd_letter_to_google_re_blogspot_7102008.pdf

In the meantime the abusive blog posts and slippage continues.

Structured Settlements 4Real intends to catalog each and every abusive blog post that slips into Google Blog Alert for "structured settlements" until Google corrects the problem.

While we are otherwise very supportive of the concept of the Google Blog Alert and Google Blog Search products we want Google to improve and we want the utility of this tool restored!

Click here to see the Catalog of Google Blog Alert That Purport To be About Structured Settlements But Are Utterly Useless in This Regard!

Structured Settlements Make No Apologies For Not Being Exciting!

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

Structured settlements are not for thrill seekers. Jonathan P. Groth is an attorney in Wisconsin practicing civil litigation with the law firm of Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. in Milwaukee and author of the Wisconsin Personal Injury Law Weblog. The title of Groth's July 15, 2008 post Structured Settlements-not exciting but very important is worth highlighting. Structured settlements are definitely not as exciting as stocks, call option, put options or mutual funds or lotto.  

 

Admittedly, structured settlements totally suck IF you are a thrill seeker with your money.

If however, you are seeking, safety security and guarantees, assurance of income you cannot outlive and a smaller check to write to Uncle Sam, THEN structured settlements are sexy.

Groth and other attorneys are encouraged to continue to write about structured settlements. Yet a couple of points from Groth's post need to be cleaned up:

1. The terms of the structured settlement must be written into the settlement agreement. There must be an obligation to pay periodic payments created in the settlement agreement.
2. The Assignor of the obligation to make structured settlement payments may be (1) the Defendant (2) The Defendant's insurer (3) the trustee/administrator of a IRC 468B Qualified Settlement Fund
3. While most structured settlements involve qualified assignments, where the periodic payment obligation is NOT assigned the structured settlement annuity may be purchased and owned by the Defendant, or its insurer. In that case the Defendant or insurer may be the customer if that is who you are advising.
4. In the contemporary world of structured settlements there are multiple stakeholders represented by multiple consultants. Arguably if you are counseling a plaintiff on financial strategies concerning an insurance product or other financial product you are responsible to that customer.