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Fairfield Funding | Where "Helping You Get The Most Out of Your Structured Settlement" Equals Pennies on the Dollar

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Your Structured Settlements

"Today, we are ready to help you get the most out of your valuable asset" says Fairfield Funding, a structured settlement cash now company out of Atlanta, Georgia. The statement is false and misleading in a way that can best be described by this picture.  Given that Fairfield Funding and other similar companies can only offer you pennies on the dollar, the you can help yourself to get the most value out of your structured settlement by keeping it and receiving 100% of every dollar. Competitors of Fairfield Funding have made audacious claims of "maximizing your settlement" when all you're doing is selling to them at pennies on the dollar. It's total bollocks.

 

Fairfield Funding can't do better than pennies on the dollar. George is not impressed!

 

Fairfield Funding "Never Pay More Than" Discount Rate is Financial Rape, So Is One Third of It in 2019

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Amanda Dobanton Esq. is a managing Partner and General Counsel for Fairfield Funding.  In the third point from the video below from the Fairfield Funding

24% Discount Rate? It's Time To Call in SVU

website, Ms. Dobanton " educates" consumers with the sales pitch that they should never pay more than a 24% discount rate for the sale of their structured settlement payments.  Implying that a 24% discount rate is reasonable, when 25-30% of that is on the upper end of reasonable in 2019,  is a shocking indictment of the credibility of a member of the Georgia Bar and her employer Fairfield Funding.  The video was first published in 2013, but was re-published and uploaded to the most recent update to the Fairfield Funding website that is used to solicit Americans all over the country.   24% was financial rape then and it is financial rape now. According to our sources, structured settlement factoring deals are being done elsewhere in the 4th quarter of 2019, for less than 6% discount rate and, in some cases, for less than a 5% discount rate.

Selling a structured settlement payment to Fairfield Funding, or any other company like it, is a money loser 100% of the time. Because the most Fairfield Funding can offer you is pennies on the dollar, consumers should ALWAYS shop their deals.

 

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My Structured Settlement Payment is Late. Why?

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Structured settlements provide reliable stable income payments,  Structured settlement payments can be mailed to you or they can be made by direct deposit. 

When you receive structured settlement payments by check the insurance company will mail the payments in advance of the due date so payment arrive on time. When payments are made by direct deposit the payments are made on the due date, unless the due date is a holiday or weekend  (see below for details).

Reasons why a structured settlement payment may be late

It's Saturday and my payment was supposed to be direct deposited on the 15th

1. Does your payment due date fall on a weekend or holiday?

In the United States, account to account transaction are made using ACH (Automated Clearing House), which moves more than $41 trillion and 24 billion electronic financial transactions annually. ACH only operates on normal banking days, which don’t include weekends, national holidays or bank holidays. If your payment date falls on a weekend or holiday, don't worry, your payment will likely be made on the next business day.

2. Have you moved?

If you have moved, please note that your settlement agreement may provide that it is your responsibility to notify the structured settlement annuity issuer or assignment company of your new address.  Put "notify insurance company" on your " To Do" list if you are planning to move.  This is especially critical if you have infrequent payments.

Customer Service Phone Numbers for Current and Former Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers

3. Have you changed bank accounts?

Plan ahead and notify the structured annuity issuer one month in advance of the move. Don't close your old account until you have confirmation that the new direct deposit has been established.   

4. Has the annuity issuer merged or been sold?

The company that is acquiring the annuity issuer may have different systems or procedures in place. A classic example is that Aviva Life Insurance Company used to mail payments 10 days in advance of a due date. In many cases this would result in payments coming in very early. People came to rely on the early payments even though it might have been a week before payments were contractually due, according to the settlement agreement. Sometime after Aviva USA was acquired by Athene Holdings in 2013, the payment time frames were tightened and  annuitants thought their payments were late, due to their experience (of receiving them early), but they were actually on time.

If the annuity issuer has been sold then it is possible that a third party administrator is handling the run off. The above linked list of contact numbers should be very helpful.

5. Have you sold some of your structured settlement payments in the past?

If you have sold any part of any structured settlement payment to a buyer like Novation Funding in the past and your annuity issuer is one of those companies that does not split payments (e.g. American General Life Insurance Company, United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York), then you are probably receiving the payments from a third party known as a payment servicer. Subject to a servicing agreement, the servicing company receives the entire annuity payment for that month and divides it up between you and the company that you sold to (or the individual or company that THEY assigned payments to). In all of that processing there is always the possibility for a delay.

#latepayment #missingpayment #annuitypayment

 

 

 

 

 

We Pay More Funding's Fuzzy Wuzzy Logic

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

We Pay More Funding LLC  claims that if you want  to invest your money now, but it's held up in a structured settlement they can give you a no obligation quote on your structured settlement payments today.  Predator in the House.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Logic

You've all heard the nursery rhyme  " Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear  Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy Wasn't Fuzzy Was he?"  That applies here to the Fort Laudserdale company.  Say you sell $200,000 in future structured settlement payments. If you're lucky you'll get 50 cents on the dollar. If you turn around and invest the money at 5% after tax it would take almost more than 14 years just to break even. At 7% after tax it would take more than 10 years.

WePayMoreFunding LLC is a company run by the "groomer" of Terrence Taylor

WePayMoreFunding LLC is run by Rhett Wadsworth, formerly of Structured Asset Funding, and a defendant since 2015 in the lawsuit brought by Terrence Taylor in Portsmouth Virginia. It has been alleged that Wadsworth was a central figure in the "grooming" of Terrence Taylor, who was inexplicably permitted  to make 11 structured settlement factoring transactions in less than 24 months in a jurisdiction that is also at the center of a class action lawsuit.  Read the Terrence Taylor complaint and then decide whether you want to deal with Rhett Wadsworth.

 

 

Fiduciary Standards For Structured Settlement Purchasers/Originators Who GIve Financial Advice

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

One of the drawbacks of the absent regulation of salespeople and sales practices in the structured settlement secondary market is that there is no suitability standard, no best interest standard and no fiduciary standard. Unlicensed salespeople lacking credentials are dispensing often very poor financial advice and people are getting hurt.

Furthermore, there is reason to believe that African-Americans and other minorities are being singled out and targeted for exploitation. Here are some examples:

• A young unemployable  29 year old African American father of two toddlers is advised to sell his entire structured settlement and primary source of support for his family and put it into mutual funds. Approved by a Florida judge. He had an Allstate annuity that had a better discount rate than the settlement purchaser offered as well. Fortunately this was nipped in the bud quickly and a negotiated rescission saw him restored. (NASP member)
• A  20 year old African American from New York is forum shopped into Florida and fleeced by predators in the secondary market who were not acting in ccc
  

  African Americans and other minorities are being exploited by the lack of standards in the structured settlement secondary market
  
  his best interest. (NASP member)
• Another young 19 year old African American is forum shopped into Florida and completely hosed out of his structured settlement. The factoring company sales rep colluded with a pal in the real estate industry and placed the young man into highly risky losing real estate positions that would not pass the smell test. (NASP member)
• According to a legal complaint, a West Virginia young African-American  man is told by a South Florida sales rep makes claims about investment performance that would violate securities laws  (NASP member)
• A Brooklyn NY 20 year old African American Allstate annuitant from New York was financially smoked by a Florida company

What is also tragedy in the making is that the "pimps" who originate these deals, grab their vig, sell off the acquisition,  and the deals then find their way to investors, including potentially, retirees and other injury victims using the secondary market annuities scam label.

These are just some examples. Add these to the Baltimore City scam allegedly perpetrated by Access Funding, its bribe taking lawyer Anuj Sud, Rockville MD lawyer Charles E Smith who allegedly advised an illiterate, intellectually disabled young woman on the sale of a structured settlement (designed to protect her throughout her lifetime) for a small and severely discounted amount of cash, without meeting her or providing counsel on the potential consequences of selling the structured settlement payments.

The road to recovery is difficult. Few attorneys have the sophistication and nous to prosecute cases against settlement purchasers. The rules need to change and there are good public policy reasons for doing so, in my opinion.

 

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

One of the drawbacks of the absent regulation of salespeople and sales practices in the structured settlement secondary market is that there is no suitability standard, no best interest standard and no fiduciary standard. Unlicensed salespeople lacking credentials are dispensing often very poor financial advice and people are getting hurt.

Furthermore, there is reason to believe that African-Americans and other minorities are being singled out and targeted for exploitation. Here are some examples:

• A young unemployable  29 year old African American father of two toddlers is advised to sell his entire structured settlement and primary source of support for his family and put it into mutual funds. Approved by a Florida judge. He had an Allstate annuity that had a better discount rate than the settlement purchaser offered as well. Fortunately this was nipped in the bud quickly and a negotiated rescission saw him restored. (NASP member)
• A  20 year old African American from New York is forum shopped into Florida and fleeced by predators in the secondary market who were not acting in ccc
  

  African Americans and other minorities are being exploited by the lack of standards in the structured settlement secondary market
  
  his best interest. (NASP member)
• Another young 19 year old African American is forum shopped into Florida and completely hosed out of his structured settlement. The factoring company sales rep colluded with a pal in the real estate industry and placed the young man into highly risky losing real estate positions that would not pass the smell test. (NASP member)
• According to a legal complaint, a West Virginia young African-American  man is told by a South Florida sales rep makes claims about investment performance that would violate securities laws  (NASP member)
• A Brooklyn NY 20 year old African American Allstate annuitant from New York was financially smoked by a Florida company

What is also tragedy in the making is that the "pimps" who originate these deals, grab their vig, sell off the acquisition,  and the deals then find their way to investors, including potentially, retirees and other injury victims using the secondary market annuities scam label.

These are just some examples. Add these to the Baltimore City scam allegedly perpetrated by Access Funding, its bribe taking lawyer Anuj Sud, Rockville MD lawyer Charles E Smith who allegedly advised an illiterate, intellectually disabled young woman on the sale of a structured settlement (designed to protect her throughout her lifetime) for a small and severely discounted amount of cash, without meeting her or providing counsel on the potential consequences of selling the structured settlement payments.

The road to recovery is difficult. Few attorneys have the sophistication and nous to prosecute cases against settlement purchasers. The rules need to change and there are good public policy reasons for doing so, in my opinion.

 

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

One of the drawbacks of the absent regulation of salespeople and sales practices in the structured settlement secondary market is that there is no suitability standard, no best interest standard and no fiduciary standard. Unlicensed salespeople lacking credentials are dispensing often very poor financial advice and people are getting hurt.

Furthermore, there is reason to believe that African-Americans and other minorities are being singled out and targeted for exploitation. Here are some examples:

• A young unemployable  29 year old African American father of two toddlers is advised to sell his entire structured settlement and primary source of support for his family and put it into mutual funds. Approved by a Florida judge. He had an Allstate annuity that had a better discount rate than the settlement purchaser offered as well. Fortunately this was nipped in the bud quickly and a negotiated rescission saw him restored. (NASP member)
• A  20 year old African American from New York is forum shopped into Florida and fleeced by predators in the secondary market who were not acting in ccc
  

  African Americans and other minorities are being exploited by the lack of standards in the structured settlement secondary market
  
  his best interest. (NASP member)
• Another young 19 year old African American is forum shopped into Florida and completely hosed out of his structured settlement. The factoring company sales rep colluded with a pal in the real estate industry and placed the young man into highly risky losing real estate positions that would not pass the smell test. (NASP member)
• According to a legal complaint, a West Virginia young African-American  man is told by a South Florida sales rep makes claims about investment performance that would violate securities laws  (NASP member)
• A Brooklyn NY 20 year old African American Allstate annuitant from New York was financially smoked by a Florida company

What is also tragedy in the making is that the "pimps" who originate these deals, grab their vig, sell off the acquisition,  and the deals then find their way to investors, including potentially, retirees and other injury victims using the secondary market annuities scam label.

These are just some examples. Add these to the Baltimore City scam allegedly perpetrated by Access Funding, its bribe taking lawyer Anuj Sud, Rockville MD lawyer Charles E Smith who allegedly advised an illiterate, intellectually disabled young woman on the sale of a structured settlement (designed to protect her throughout her lifetime) for a small and severely discounted amount of cash, without meeting her or providing counsel on the potential consequences of selling the structured settlement payments.

The road to recovery is difficult. Few attorneys have the sophistication and nous to prosecute cases against settlement purchasers. The rules need to change and there are good public policy reasons for doing so, in my opinion.

 

Ozark Funding Structured Settlement Social Media Road Kill

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Time to break out the BS spray for structured settlement misinformation written on behalf of Springfield, Missouri based Ozark Funding by Derek Wrend – listed as a community and marketing manager at Ozark Funding who guest blogged on planwise.com last year. Apologies for only sniffing it out just now.  Download Who-actually-makes-a-profit-from

Ozark "Another obvious advantage of cashing out your structured settlement today is that it allows (you) to eliminate any possible risks of breach of contract. In accordance with the terms of your settlement agreement, an insurance company undertakes to make you regular payments. The truth is that insurance companies rather often tend to draw back payments and even pull out in spite of court orders. You can never be absolutely confident that your particular company won’t go this way".

Comment:  Where is the proof of this cynical, uninformed  nonsense? Should consumers be more worried about regulated insurers that may be over 150 years old or the unregulated secondary market that has been beset with recent news of forged court orders involved in New York structured settlement factoring  ("cash now") transactions and forum shopping? If insurers really did pull out of contracts consumers would have a resource with state regulators and be able to verify.

 Ozark: "There is one more trump card that insurance companies typically use to hold their clients from selling structured settlement payments – an interest fee that annuity and settlement buyers take for their services.

Comment:  Insurance companies issuing structured settlement annuities do charge a processing fee to a structured settlement transfer company. It is not interest however, it is generally a flat fee.  Are structured settlements transfers a contractual right? Given that less than 10% of annuitants sell their structured settlement payment rights, the insurers charge a fee to cover the costs of assuring compliance with structured settlement protection acts.

Ozark: "Do you really know how they (insurers) manage your entire money stream while you get only small partitions every month or, what’s worse, quarter or year? The truth is that insurance companies use money that is enclosed in structured settlements, annuities, insurance settlements and some other related financial agreements to invest it into various high-profit fields".

"The volume of capital that every insurance company manages, even the small one, is really tremendous. And as you certainly know, money makes money. There are multiple investment opportunities that insurance companies take advantage of to earn money, but mostly they opt for stocks and investing into businesses that have significant growth potential and can be further sold for a higher price".

Comments: The promises contained in an insurance contract are only as good as the financial strength of the insurance company that is backing that promise. It is desirable for an insurance company to be profitable, particularly when you are insuring long term obligations. It is not only important for the insurer to be profitable but to have a track record of being profitable.  "Enclosed in a  structured settlement"?

Ozark "If money is legally yours, why should you allow a third-party company to derive all the benefit from it? Bank deposits, stocks, mutual and hedge funds, starting up your own business or perhaps investing into real estate – with a large amount of cash at hand you can easily enter any of these excellent financial opportunities to enjoy steady income".

Comments: 

1. With a structured settlement you agree to a stream of future periodic payments. The terms of the periodic payment obligation are set out in the contract you sign (settlement agreement and assignment agreement) in such a way in order for you to enjoy the tax status of the future payments.
2. The insurance company does not "derive all the benefit from it", how else would they pay you anything? DUH!
3. Aren't banks, corporations that issue common stock, mutual funds and hedge funds each a "third-party company"?  DUH!
4. Do hedge funds guarantee steady income?  Compare the average size of case for a person selling a structured settlement to the minimum investment in a hedge fund.
5. Do banks, mutual funds and hedge funds charge fees, or do the licensed individuals that sell them make a commission?  Where is that covered in Ozark/Wrend's article?

If you're going to turn out trash, expect the "bash".  It doesn't take much to do a modicum of research and present accurate information about structured settlements.

 

 

 

 

Fairfield Funding's Gangrenous Advice "Turn Off the IV Drip Feed" (So They Can "Amputate Your Leg")

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

In the spirit of the Fairfield Funding use of a drip feed to describe a structured settlement, it seems logical to equate what they are peddling as as court sanctioned "amputation" of a leg of your financial stool. It's just the matter of whether it is above the knee or below the knee. Either way your financial balance is off. The financial surgeons at Fairfield Funding Group are doling out absolutely gangrenous advice, metaphorically speaking, because there really is no prosthesis available once a structured settlement payment seller finds themselves "stumped", with no cash and no income down the road.

Here is an excerpt from Fairfield Funding's recent solicitation

"However, there’s been one team quietly achieving great things for thousands of Americans nation-wide. Fairfield Funding, a firm strictly aimed at unlocking lump sum income for those trapped by a drip-fed settlement or annuity has been achieving high acclaim.

"Drip fed annuity" is nothing but a sleazy and, in my opinion, unprofessional sales pitch. There are a number of other factoring companies who use a similar "why wait?" approach, including the one tied to a Florida structured settlement agency CEO.

Before you end up doing the "hoppity hop" with your finances, speak with an independent financial professional.

And to Fairfield Funding, what's the heck is the matter with you?