365 Advance Services Unregistered DBA of Novation Funding LLC

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

It has emerged that  365 Advance Services is an unregistered  DBA used by Novation Funding LLC.   as shown by the image below from Court Records for the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles date stamped November 13, 2015, yet a search of fictitious names with the Florida Secretary of State shows no record for 365 Advance Services   Download 365 Advance Services Fictitious Name Search 12-28-2015.  Now that the cat is out of the bag,  one can observe that the California filing is only 2 weeks following Novation Funding's getting Court approval of what amounts to taking extreme financial  advantage of a 20 year old New York native Cedric Martez Thomas. in Okeechobee County Florida.  As you can see from the notes of Sarah Bailey, Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court of Okeechobee County Florida  on October 29, 2015  Download Cedric Martez Thomas was not legally represented in structured settlement transfer,  Cedric Martez Thomas had no legal representation,  but the NASP member profiteers did.  Let this be a warning to anyone who sells structured settlement payments for a lump sum of cash.

What is unusual about the Cedric Martez Thomas case is that the case is filed as if 365 Advance Services is the purchaser and Novation Funding LLC is the assignee when in fact they appear to be one and the same.  

Further research suggests that this conduct may not be an isolated occurrence and may be a pattern and practice for Novation Funding, LLC.  For example  November . IN RE: Approval of Transfer of Payment's Rights between 365 Advance Services and L. Woods  (a/k/a Labrittany Woods)   Martin County FL  Circuit Court  Case 15001183CA,  365 Advance was listed as the Petitioner and Novation Funding LLC was listed as the Assignee on the October 15, 2015 filing.  Again, one and the same.

The State of Florida has clear rules on DBAs and Fictitious Names

A Fictitious Name Registration is required of individuals who do business under any name other than either their legal personal name or a properly registered corporate name, partnership, trademark, service mark or limited liability company. The purpose of Chapter 865.09, Florida Statutes, known as the Fictitious Name Act, is to insure a public record of the identity of a fictitious name owner. Registration under this act does not reserve or protect a fictitious name against use by another party, nor does it provide rights to the use of a trade name, trademark, service mark or corporate name. The Division does not screen names submitted for registration against any other recorded information. Applicants may check the Division’s website to see if the name is already in use. You may also check your local telephone directory. The applicant is responsible for avoiding and defending against name infringement. If name protection is your goal, you may want to pursue registering a trademark or service mark if your name meets the requirements of the Florida Statutes. There are also other types of entity registrations you may want to consider. The advice of trusted legal counsel is recommended.

Interesting Legal Question  According to the IRS Structured Settlement Factoring Audit Technique Guide,  "In general, section 5891 applies to structured settlement factoring transactions entered into on orafter February 22, 2002. The amount of the excise tax is 40% of the excess of (1) the undiscounted amount of the payments being acquired, over (2) the total amount actually paid to acquire them. The 40% excise tax does not apply, however, if the transfer is approved in advance in a final order, judgment or decree that: (1) finds that the transfer does not contravene any Federal or State statute or the order of any court or responsible administrative authority,

1. Why did Novation Funding LLC not disclose the DBA in Court filings in Florida where it was taking a huge discount and disclose the DBA in the deal in California a few weeks later?
2. If 365 Advance Services is not registered as a Fictitious Name of DBA in the State of Florida by Novation Funding LLC, does that "contravene any Federal or State statute or the order of any court or responsible administrative authority" including, but not limited to Chapter 865.09, Florida Statutes, known as the Fictitious Name Act?  If so, should Novation Funding LLC be subject to a 40% excise tax on the Cedric Martez Thomas deal?  That's a lot of a pesos amigo. 

Now the big question is why did Novation Funding LLC, a member of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers, engage in such egregious price gouging with a 20 year old?.  How does Novation Funding LLC justify taking such shameful advantage of a 20 year old boy?  A shameful $1,500,000 advantage. 

What they paid Cedric Martez Thomas was no where near market.  It begs the question., if one were to review all of the deals that Novation Funding has done, would we find similar profiteering at the annuitant's expense?

Novation publicly claims as one of its core beliefs Integrity is what you do when no one is watching.  Well we're watching them "dance", what about their integrity now?

I