Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary

Sell Your Structured Settlement for Pennies on the Dollar in Time for The Holidays? Don't Fall For It!

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

What is perhaps one of the dumbest and cheesiest ideas that you may encounter if you're receiving structured settlement payments is the idea that you should sell your structured settlement payments (for pennies on the dollar), to have money to buy holiday gifts.

Sell Your Structured Settlement Payments in Time for the Holidays?

"People are experiencing financial uncertainty due to current inflation and might struggle to catch up on monthly expenses. Even though holidays are so far away, they are approaching and with them, expenses rise significantly".  July 14, 2022 solicitation tweeted out by structured settlement payment purchaser. 

Say you wanted to raise $1,000 for holiday gifts, when you factor in the court filing fees, legal fees and buyer's profit margins, you're always going to lose money, possibly multiple times what seek to get out for holiday money.

The "Ethics" of Structured Settlement Buyers Inducing Family and Friends to "Pimp" Pennies on The Dollar Deals

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Apparently Fairfield Funding, the Atlanta Georgia based structured settlement factoring company, considers paying for friends and family to "pimp" pennies on

Friends and family who pimp for structured settlement factoring companies for $500 assure that their friends and family will suffer a loss getting only pennies on the dollar.  

the dollar deals to be ethical. Here is what Fairfield Funding says right on the Fairfield Funding website at time of this publication:

"We value our customers and are always looking for a way to get the most money in their hands. We have two programs that help us achieve that goal.

First, we offer a $500.00 referral fee for anyone that refers a customer to us that completes a transaction. This is great for family and friends. They get a lump sum and you get an extra $500.00 at the time of closing"

What is the definition of a program?

According to Auntie Merriam (Webster) a program is...

 

1. a public notice  (from the Latin programma)

2a: a brief usually printed outline of the order to be followed, of the features to be presented, and the persons participating (as in a public performance)

2b: the performance of a program especially : a performance broadcast on radio or television

3: a plan or system under which action may be taken toward a goal

4: curriculum

5: prospectus/syllabus

6a: a sequence of coded instructions that can be inserted into a mechanism (such as a computer)

6b dated : a complete plan for solving a problem by the use of a mechanism (such as a computer) that includes both instructions to be inserted into the mechanism and plans for human activities such as interpreting output

6c: the genes or sequences of DNA or RNA that are part of an organism or cell and encode or determine a process, trait, or behavior… a mouse in which a tiny but crucial bit of the genetic program has been eliminated.— Bruce Fellmanalso : a process, trait, or behavior determined by or as if by the genetic material of an organism Orb webs are marvels of geometry and construction. They are built according to a complex behavioral program, which is highly flexible in some respects and very precise in others.— Michael H. Robinson

 

Breaking it down

1. So the $500 that Fairfield Funding is offering is not a program, at least on the authority of Aunt Merriam-Webster in the above excerpt from her dictionary
2. No matter what Fairfield Funding says in its advertising, the best they can do is pay pennies on the dollar to structured settlement annuitants in exchange for their structured settlement payments.
3. Let's face it, pennies on the dollar sucks. No wait a minute, pennies on the dollar REALLY sucks!
4. Friends and family will make a fat $500 profit for "pimping" out a friend or family member who become prey for a big loss, returning only pennies on their dollars. Yes, that lump sum is always going to be a loss.  That's pretty fricking sour isn't it? Not to mention a potential conflict of interest.
5. We are not talking legal, we are questioning the ethics of such practice, (1) the inducement made by Fairfield Funding to recruit pimps ; (2) the advertising and promotion of the inducement by Fairfield Funding; (3) the act of pimping out "trusted" friends and family, capped off by the "pimps" and the structured settlement factoring company making more profit than the prey.

Annuitants Lives Matter

• The lack of regulation of sales practices in the structured settlement secondary market, facilitates the "friends and family" pimp strategy. 
• If you are receiving structured settlement payments keep it to yourself. There is no need to discuss it with people.
• Don't blab. Read the story of a Stamford CT man who blabbed about his settlement and got robbed in a home invasion.
• Unusual perhaps, but in the times we live in, where there is little accountability who knows?

Annuity1234 Structured Settlement Social Media Road Kill of The Week

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Sell My Annuity (Annuity1234), a DBA for a member of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers  (NASP) often comes up in the paid ads section on Google searches. The lead generation website can best be described as Social Media Road Kill because it fails to get the fundamentals of structured

Read the book. Don't be a schnook.

settlement right.

Three False Statements of Fact Made on Sell My Annuity (annuity1234.com)

1. A structured settlement is a type of annuity arranged with an insurance company.  FALSE
2. Structured settlements are typically issued to individuals who have suffered harm as a result of a personal injury.  FALSE
3. In cases where the victim is owed money from another party as a result of a personal injury, the federal government, in some cases, encourages these victims and their families to utilize structured settlements issued by the insurance company who insured the party at fault. FALSE

Rebutting Three False Statements of Fact made on Sell My Annuity (Annuity1234)

1. A structured settlement is a form of settlement.
2. A structured settlement may be funded by a structured settlement annuity
3. A structured settlement is not "issued to individuals" or anyone else
4. Structured settlements are a compromise.  Future periodic payments from a structured settlement represent a future periodic payment obligation as compensation for damages as delineated in the settlement agreement and release, qualified assignment and (if applicable) court order approving the settlement.
5. Structured settlements are not issued by the insurance company who insured the party at fault, because (1) structured settlements are not issued; (2)  the insurer "who insured the party at fault" because structured settlements are not issued and second , because the insurer who insured the party at fault would likely be a property and casualty company as opposed to a life insurance company. Life insurance companies issue annuities, w which are the most common qualified funding asset used to fund structured settlements.
6. While state and federal tax law favors structured settlements and has done so for more than 35 years, the federal government is not involved in your settlement unless you are a plaintiff in a legal case against the government, or one of its agencies.

"This ain't a fantastic voyage
But I'm still on a mission to see if I can
Get your attention
Now I wants to drops some information
Just a little additive to your education"   -Coolio  (1,2,3,4), The Clean Version

Members of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers, whose members run a business with no regulation of sales practices,  often do a poor job of educating consumers about structured settlements by publishing wildly inaccurate, ignorant and sometimes reckless misinformation. What's their problem?  Who is approving the publication of the material.

                                      

Structured Settlement Factoring Loophole Raises Potential for "Bribes" for Pennies on the Dollar

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Structured settlement factoring companies offer a valuable service for people in need who cannot get resources they need from other sources. Unfortunately, because sales practices of structured settlement factoring companies are completely unregulated in all but a few states, the potential for exploitation of structured settlement annuitants is a thing.

Consider this questionable approach on the website of a company called Rapid Capital LLC which uses the catchy URL rapcashnow(dot) com

"Your Rapid Card puts you in full control of your money, instantly!

From the moment you receive your personalized card, you can start receiving advances, gifts and funding straight to your hands. The card can be used as a point-of-sale credit or debit card at any store or online retailer that accepts Master Card. In addition, the card may be used at any ATM to check your balance or withdraw cash (see below for free ATM locations). As soon as your transaction is approved in court, we will distribute your funds directly to your rapid card and the funds will be available for use immediately after"

Questions about the Rapid Capital Approach on their website rapcashnow (dot) com

1. You do not have full control of your money instantly because there are structured settlement protection laws in all 50 states in the United States.  Any transfer must be approved by a judge as being in the payee's best interest and that of his/her/their dependents. That process could take 60-90 days, if approved.
2. The best that Rapid Capital, or any company like them can do is pay pennies on the dollar. No gift is going is make up for the money for going to lose by selling payments to them, or any other similar company. Don't be distracted by a shiny penny or quarter.  
3. Do the stored value cards give the structured settlement factoring company the ability to make money on the float of your money? What are those charges?
4. Is there any FDIC protection on money stored in the cards?  Read this GENERAL COUNSEL'S OPINION NO. 8—Insurability of Funds Underlying Stored Value Cards and Other Nontraditional Access Mechanisms, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation  (FDIC).

The Structured Settlement Watchdog Raps Cash Now

Rap Cash Now

Trap Ka-Pow!

Cain't Be So

Unless Judge say so

If Judge say no

Ain't got no dough

Ain't really in control

Or even effin' whole

It's a trick, Rick

Quick and slick

Nothin' but rim

The pickins slim

Pennies on the dollar is the best you gonna get

I told ya so and that is effin that. 

 

 

 

 

 

Fairfield Funding Deceptive Use of National Structured Settlements Trade Association Mark

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Fairfield Funding, the Atlanta based structured settlement factoring company appears in advertising captured today, falsely suggesting to consumers that it is a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant to promote its pennies on the dollar value proposition.  

Misleading advertising from the Atlanta Georgia structured settlement factoring company, Fairfield Funding

Certified Structured Settlement Consultant is a professional designation for structured settlement consultants in existence for 26 years. The term Certified Structured Settlement Consultant is a registered trademark of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association  Download Certified Structured Settlement Consultant trademark registration USPTO

It's false and wholly misleading advertising to state or imply that Fairfield Funding is a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, because such designation is only available to individuals. No structured settlement factoring company or any company itself is a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant. Moreover, Fairfield Funding is not a member of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association.

Among other things, candidates for the Certified Structured Structured Consultant, must agree to the following:

"Agreement: I understand that the NSSTA CSSC/MSSC Committee must favorably consider this application prior to acceptance. By submitting this form, I declare that the facts herein are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I also state that my organization, voting and professional members are actively involved in, associated with, or have an interest in the furtherance of periodic payment of compensation on account of personal physical injuries as set forth in Article II of the NSSTA Bylaws."

Notwithstanding a possible violation of the NSSTA trademark, the structured settlement industry should not tolerate any false and wholly misleading advertising that suggests to consumers that an individual or entity has professional qualifications or credentials unless they've actually earned them and the designation is active.

This morning I contacted Fairfield Funding,  a call they purported to record, and asked to speak to a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant. I was passed to Amanda Dobanton Fairfield Funding General Counsel, who is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers. Ms. Dobanton is not a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant.  Ms. Dobanton said she would speak to their advertising company.