by Structured Settlement Watchdog
I felt a bit nauseated after watching Jarrod Freeborn's video for Black Square Financial of Boca Raton. CEO Jarrod Freeborn presents himself as the quintessential clean-cut individual in a golf shirt emblazoned with a company logo. He appears honest, sounds articulate, but regrettably lacks credibility. I might be more lenient, but what he asserts having been in the business long enough to know better, makes his shortcomings less forgivable.
What Jarrod Freeborn Lies About
Freeborn lies about a law that went into effect in January 2002 that he claims "allows" a structured settlement payee "to make alterations to their policy". Total Rubbish. In fact the Black Square Financial website lies to its target audience "Take control of your policy". It's a shame that Freeborn lies about fundamental facts.
I raised this very issue in a June 12, 2022 post Black Square Financial Bogus Claims That You Can "Take Control Of" and "Structure Your Policy" - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews
The only law of significance to structured settlement factoring that went into effect in 2002, was part of the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001, that was signed into law by then President George W. Bush in January 2002.
The intent of the 2001 Federal legislation to allow liquidity, with limitations, was in good faith. It took another two decades for all of the 50 states and DC to adopt a state structured settlement protection acts. However the key point, apparently lost on Freeborn, in his YouTube video, is that there is no alteration in the annuity policy that the payee does not own
Why does Freeborn not simply state the truth about its nature? There is no need for obfuscation.
Just for good measure Freeborn also inaccurately refers to annuitants as "policy holders". Perhaps therein lies his confusion.
In the video Freeborn says he's "not a financial adviser and "not licensed or certified to give financial advice like this". Hmmm. Nice cuppa mumbo jumbo gumbo with oyster crackers.
Freeborn's clean cut video does not conceal the taint of the CEO's past
Fairlawn Assets, LLC, John Ferrante, and Jarrod Freeborn v. Barbara Booker, as Guardian of the Person and Estate of M.H. Appeal from 60th District Court of Jefferson County :: 2020 :: Texas Court of Appeals, Ninth District Decisions :: Texas Case Law :: Texas Law :: U.S. Law :: Justia
"Freeborn is an independent contractor that Fairlawn engaged to facilitate the transaction between Fairlawn and M.H. Booker asserted that Fairlawn was formed by one or more of the individual defendants “to effectuate the illicit exchange with M.H. with no intention to maintain Fairlawn Assets, LLC as a corporate entity conducting otherwise legitimate business"
It is worth noting that the opening sentence of the Texas Court of Appeals case analysis states, "As discussed above, appellants argue in issue two that M.H.’s structured settlement is not an insurance contract and Booker’s legal action did not arise under an insurance contract," with Freeborn being one of the Appellants. Regarding the possibility of "altering an annuity policy" in 2025, a Texan might remark that he has "ripped his britches."
Freeborn's reliance on a 100-year average for the S&P 500 to justify deals generating pennies on the dollar for structured settlement annuitants is fundamentally flawed.
- Over the past 20 years, one could have achieved a 10% return by maintaining a hypothetical investment in the S&P 500 without selling through a two-decade period that encompassed the Financial Crisis of the mid-2000s and the Pandemic (where there were some massive daily drops in the market);
- Investor Behavior and its impact on the sequencing of Investments, Returns and Withdrawals. Freeborn's justification for his pitch is overly simplistic and shows an unreasonable level of ignorance, an imminent danger to someone being pitched to sell off long term security for pennies on the dollar.
- Structured Settlement IRR Rate of Return Compared to Other Investments
- Sequencing and Decumulation Risk | The Structured Settlements Fix
- S&P 500: Total and Inflation-Adjusted Historical Returns
My interest as Structured Settlement Watchdog is to see that structured settlement consumers have the clearest path to accurate information about structured settlements.
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