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April 14, 2014

Lump Sum Funder | Why is Fairfield Funding Hiding Its Involvement?

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Should there be a new series called "Settlement Purchasers Do Some of The Funniest Things" ? 

Take "Lump Sum Funder" for instance. On April 13, 2014 it blasted a series of those infernal press releases (ubiquitous to the structured settlement secondary market for announcing the slightest triviality),  claiming among other things, that it is the "best portal" and that it has been "running successfully for more than 15 years". Here's what I found:

1.Lumpsumfunder.com has an anonymous domain registration with GoDaddy. The domain was only registered for the first time on October 12, 2013, according toa whois report at DomainTools.com.

2. Lump Sum Funder claims to be based in Atlanta, but there we found no record with the Secretary of States in Georgia, Nevada and Delaware (the latter two being popular domiciles for settlement purchasers)

Download Lump Sum Funder Georgia Corporations System Search Results None 4-13-2014

Download Lump SumFunder Business Entity Search 4-13-2014 - Secretary of State, Nevada

Download Lump Sum Funder Delaware Division of Corporations Entity Search - 4-13-2014

3. Lump Sum Funder claims to be a direct purchaser of structured settlements.

4. Lump Sum Funder website claims it has been "helping people get the cash they need for over 15 years".    BUT

  • LinkedIn profile says Lump Sum Funder was founded in 2012 and has 11-50 employees
  • Facebook page was launched  January 1, 2013.

Clues emerge over the true operators of LumpSum Funder....

A. Walt McGinnis listed as Web Marketing Coordinator of Lump Sum Funder on LinkedIn. He is also listed as Marketing Director of Fairfield Funding.  On one of the press releases, dated April 9, 2014 Walt McGinnis has been listed as the owner of Lump Sum Funder.  According to his LinkedIn he graduated college in 2010.   But the company has been operating "for over 15 years", ostensibly without a website, in a sub-industry which is remarkably prolific in website generation.

B. Certain videos appearing on Youtube for FairfieldFunding and Lump Sum Funder feature the same spokesperson, who just happens to be Fairfield Funding in house counsel "Amanda".  

Similarities

  • Same name
  • Same accent and cadence in speech.
  • Same office view
  • Same office furniture
  • Printer in same position.

Differences

1. Fairfield Funding features Amanda on a day she used her curling iron  (5/22/2013 upload).Lump Sum Funder features Amanda with straight hair (11/2013)

2. Amanda's office in the Fairfield Funding ad features a modest leafy looking office plant on a stand. In the Lump Sum Funder ad  she is featured with a huge floor based fern.

3. Amanda's computer monitor is more busy in the Lump Funder ad, featuring a red sticky label on the bottom left of the monitor, in addition to what was a solitary white one in the Fairfield Funding ad.

And there's more

  1. Address for "Lump Sum Funder" is the same as Fairfield Funding
  2. Testimonials for Lump Sum Funder relate to Fairfield Funding
  3. And Rick Hazen from Fairfield Funding, who we reported whose voice mail was at the end of an Einstein Structured Settlements toll-free number recently, also appears in a video for Lump Sum Funder.
  4. I was only able to find this with the Georgia Secretary of State   Download Fairfield Funding Georgia Corporations System Search Results 4-13-2014

The Yelp listing for Fairfield Funding "from the business" states the company was founded in 2008. My math says that's 6 years ago. The Better Business Bureau listing for Fairfield Funding states that the company has only 6 employees and was founded October 1, 2008. The Facebook listing for Fairfield Funding states the Facebook account for Fairfield Funding was established in 2007. My math says that's 7 years ago. So where does the "over 15 years" come from? Are you having the same problem resolving the Lump Sum Funder math as I am? I'm also wondering about the 11-50 employees vs the 6 employees. Why is all the secrecy necessary in the structured settlement secondary market when marketing to American consumers?

Hey, I'm a watchdog. Of course I like shows about dogs!

Posted at 12:18 PM in Fairfield Funding Commentary, Secondary Market Structured Settlements, Structured Settlement Watchdog®, Structured Settlements in Georgia |

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