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October 18, 2022

Structured Settlement "Client Relations Dept" "Unclaimed Funds" | Silly "Fortune Cookie" Letter

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

The "Unclaimed Funds" Structured Settlement Silly "Fortune Cookie" Letter

888=556-1740 Mailer
Don't be fooled by silly emails with attachments like this one sent to structured settlement annuitants by Fortune

I've learned that some structured settlement payees have received a mailer from Settlement "Client Relations Dept"  "Immediate Verification Required", and bears the toll-free telephone number of 888-556-2740?   

Here's what I've discovered:

The mailing department of Fortune Settlement Solutions has been blitzing people with structured settlements to generate leads with the teaser of "unclaimed funds" using the mailer displayed below  [Disclaimer: the green nail is not mine :-)].  

FACT: THERE ARE NO UNCLAIMED FUNDS.  You could call any structured settlement factoring company and get an offer to buy your payments (for pennies on the dollar),  

What Happened When I Called 888-556-2740?

I called 888-556-2740 yesterday after receiving  a call from Pennsylavania concerning a similarly worded letter.

With the targeted addressee listening in on the phone I dialed  888-556-2740. The person who answered the phone at 888-556-2740 was really cagey, claimed to be from New York and said the name of the business was Structured Settlements and that it was registered to do business in New York and that they were based in Manhattan. I looked up the name and there was no such company. It would have been much simpler to simply say who they really are, like the person who answered the follow up call today, at Fortune Settlement Solutions from Miami Lakes, Florida and located in Miami Dade County.

I called the same number today and spoke to Will from Fortune Settlement Solutions and he was far more professional and straightforward from the start of the conversation.

Silly "fortune cookie" letters like the one displayed have plagued the structured settlement factoring industry for years. 

Why Are Structured Settlement Factoring Company "Fortune Cookie" Letters Misleading?

"Fortune Cookie" letters are misleading in that:

  • the target is receiving payments from a structured settlement, 
  • the target's information has possibly been acquired through court scraping or other means.
  • the sender factoring company or its agent knows that the target has previously sold some payments, has more payments that can be sold for a nice profit to the sender factioring company.
  • the sender or its agent knows that the structured settlement payments that the target has not sold ARE NOT unclaimed funds
  • the sending factoring company vounts on the gullibility of the targeted structured settlement payee.

Why do some structured settlement factoring companies send these "Fortune Cookie" letters?

Why do people open fortune cookies?   

8 Facts About Fortune Cookies (mentalfloss.com)

Fortune Cookie Sayings, Messages & Quotes – Fortune & Frame (fortuneandframe.com)

Are "Fortune Cookie" letters a legal way to solicit structured settlement payees?

With few exceptions, due to the strategic failure of state legislatures over two decades, the structured Structured settlement factoring company licensing NC HB845 settlement factoring industry has survived for more than two decades with no regulation of sales practices of participants and no licensing. It is pretty uqnique for a segment of the financial services industry.

There is no question that Structured Settlement Factoring "Fortune Cookie" letters are misleading for the reasons bullet pointed above.

The tide may be changing, if other states follow the example of North Carolina. North Carolina HB845 was introduced in April 2023 and implemented historic changes to its structured settlement protection act from 2024. In addition to delegating oversight to its Department of Insurance, among a long list of umpteen prohibited sales practices introduced is a misleading advertising prohibition:

"Intentionally advertise materially false or misleading information regarding its products or services"

Last updated August 18, 2024

 

Posted at 11:49 PM in Broward County Structured Settlements, Dade County Structured Settlements, False Advertising Re Creating, Buying or Selling Structured Settlements, Florida SSPA Reform Needed, Fortune Cookie Letters, Fortune Settlements Commnetary, Is This Unclaimed Funds Mailer For Real?, Miami Lakes Structured Settlements, Misinformation About Settlement Planning, National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP), North Carolina HB845, Philadelphia PA Structured Settlements, Pittsburgh Structured Settlement Cash Now, Structured Settlement Factoring News, Structured Settlement Watchdog®, Structured Settlements in Miami Florida area |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2025

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
    Structured settlements and what you need to know about them including a helpful introductory video featuring A.M. Best Client Recommended Structured Settlement Expert and Registered Settlement Planner John Darer of 4structures.com LLC
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  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
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  • Top Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2025
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities in 2025? A list of current structured annuity issuers, the location of their home offices and their financial ratings from A.M. Best, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors and/or other Tier1 NAIC ratings, with links to their websites and other useful information. Last updated November 3, 2024
  • Treasury Funded Structured Settlements
    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
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    Use the Taxable Equivalent Yield chart to help compare the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of a structured settlement to other alternative or complementary investments. Need help with the chart? Call 4structures.com® LLC at 888-325-8640
  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements 2025
    In 2025, you can structure your settlement payments in various ways. A structured settlement allows for multiple payment types within one agreement. You can tailor and merge different structured settlement payments to suit your individual needs, either alone or alongside other financial instruments. If desired, diversify your structured settlement by utilizing multiple annuity issuers, treasury-funded structured settlements, index-linked structured settlement payments, and market-based structured options.
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Attorney Contingency Fees
    Structured attorney fees offer a financial strategy that provides a unique method for deferring taxes for attorneys and their firms. Attorneys can structure or defer their legal fees independently of whether the plaintiff structures their settlement. There are various ways to structure attorney fees, including capped or uncapped index-linked structured settlement annuities with payments adjusted according to the S&P 500 or another index's positive changes. Trial lawyers might also opt for a special deferred payment/compensation arrangement if they seek market-based returns without a cap. As the year-end approaches, consider adding structured attorney fee specialist John Darer® to your settlement planning team for 2025.
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers
    Receiving structured settlement payments from your own structured settlement or inherited structured settlement? You'll like this huge time saver. Click the title for a link to a comprehensive list of customer service telephone numbers that includes both current AND former structured settlement annuity issuers and reinsurers. If you have simple bank or beneficiary changes, or if the insurance company that issued the structured annuity has merged, sold or spun off its block of structured annuity business (e.g. Aviva, Allstate, Transamerica, AEGON, GE Capital, Liberty, CNA, Confederation Life), oran annuity issuer has changed its name and you're trying to track them down. Here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last updated December 9, 2024.
  • Structured Settlement Quote Lock-Ins | What You Need To Know
    What does a Structured Settlement Lock-In Mean? How do plaintiffs, defendants and insurers benefit from a structured settlement quote lock in when finalizing a settlement? How does the defendant/insurer/court benefit from using a structured settlement lock-in? Where to be careful when using structured settlement lock ins.
  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.
  • History of Structured Settlements
    Tracing the roots of structured settlements history from 1918, when Congress exempted damages for personal injury or sickness from income tax, to the establishment of structured settlements as a core personal injury settlement planning tool to the present day.
  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
    Market based structured settlements are an alternative or supplementary structured settlement solution for the plaintiff, attorney or law firm that: 1. Can afford to take some market risk 2. Have discretionary settlement dollars. Claimants and attorneys alike may find that market-based structured settlements provide the opportunity to receive tax-free income, or tax-deferred income, while enjoying growth potential.
  • iStructure |Uncapped Fixed Index Structured Settlement Annuity
    iStructure is an innovative game changing fixed index structured settlement annuity for plaintiffs or attorneys. with an intermediate to long term horizon
  • Structured Settlements and Longevity Risk| What Are the Odds?
    Do your financial resources give you enough road, or will the road run out before you do? A structured settlement annuity helps mitigate the risk of outliving your savings, no matter how long you live. A structured settlement can include one or more customized payment streams and types.
  • Intellectual Property Structured Settlements
    While intellectual property wasn’t a common focus for structured settlements, the growth of IP litigation led to some firms, including 4structures.com, LLC, adapting structured settlements in this context. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act shifted some Intellectual Property assets (e,g, patents) from capital gains treatment to ordinary income treatment, while increasing tax rates on lump-sum sales from 20% to 37%, increasing the appeal of structured settlement options for tax planning. Click through for more details!

Qualified Settlement Funds

  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
    Firmwide qualified settlement funds have been heavily promoted to trial lawyers, but have been debunked in a detailed analysis in a July 2022 legal opinion a tax partner at the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Trial lawyers and firms who have established Firmwide QSFs or coinsidering establishing a Firmwide QSF should read the analysis as part of their evaluation.

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Why Take a Structured Settlement?

  • A structured settlement offers guaranteed financial security to personal injury victims, wrongful death survivors and their families. A structured settlement involves a customized stream of payments, provides long-term stable tax-free income, for a period of years or a lifetime. Unlike other income annuities. a structured settlement annuity can have multiple payment streams to address multiple needs in a single contract.

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