Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews

Black Square Financial Bogus Claims That You Can "Take Control Of" and "Structure Your Policy"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Why does Black Square Financial target African Americans with the total lie that you can can "take control of your policy", the annuity policy that funds their structured settlement?  (middle image below)

Pre-Marked for the trash collector

Despite touting all the value that merely pennies on the dollar will buy, Coral Springs Florida based Black Square Financial promotes the following falsehoods

1. Implication that you can restructure an existing structured settlement.
2. Statement that you can take control of a policy (that you do not own). 
3. " Structure your policy"

Given that a settlement agreement and qualified assignment would expressly state that the annuitant has no rights of ownership in the annuity policy, Black Square Financial is invited to post proof it has actually purchased a structured settlement annuity policy or helped a client purchase a structured settlement annuity policy. 

More bogus claims by Black Square Financial of working with "all sizes of policies" can be found in this Black Square Financial ad 2017 ad discovered on the web at the time of posting.

The misleading Black Square Financial ad, shows a solicitation by Black Square Financial to unsophisticated structured settlement annuitants to take the proceeds of Black Square Financial's "pennies on the dollar" offer and use it to buy a depreciating asset such as a BMW.  Here's what a BMW would cost at the time of the Black Square ad (retrieved June 13, 2022). The lack of credible justification for Black Square Financial's use of the advert, is compounded by the fact that no BMW of any size is an insurance policy, or a structured settlement. Silly boys.

Definition of Policy Under Florida Law

Florida 2021 Statutes 627.402(3) “Policy” means a written contract of insurance or written agreement for or effecting insurance, or the certificate thereof, by whatever name called, and includes all clauses, riders, endorsements, and papers that are a part thereof. The term “certificate” as used in this subsection does not include certificates as to group life or health insurance or as to group annuities issued to individual insureds.

 

No exculpation from "Aunt Merriam Webster" either, which states " Definition of insurance policy : a document that contains the agreement that an insurance company and a person have made : a writing whereby a contract of insurance is made in which the rights and duties of the insurer and the insured are set out

 

Neither Jarrod Freeborn, nor Jordan Freeborn, hold Florida Insurance licenses according to Florida DFS records

Download Licensee Search Jordan Freeborn Florida 6-12-2022

Download Licensee Search Jarrod Freeborn Florida 6-12-2022

"Stack Formation"

Black Square Financial claims "20 years of combined experience",  yet can't talk the talk on their web page. I've got almost double that alone and if we ran a stack formation of the experience of my colleagues in the primary market who are members of NSSTA, AASC and SSP,  who know what they are talking about, we might "muster a cluster" of up 10,000-12,000 years of combined experience. In case you were wondering, What Life Was Like 10,000 Years Ago?

Disclaimer: The use of any marks herein does not suggest any sponsorship, affiliation or relationship with owners of such marks. Any marks that may appear in commentary are in the context of fair use to discuss newsworthy topics presented herein.

Carting company=junk lugger  

 

 

In Coral Springs You Can "Dream Big" (for Pennies on the Dollar) on a Black Square

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Today we go round the world in colored squares. Red Square is in Moscow and there you have St. Basil's Cathedral. Green Square is fast becoming Sydney Australia's most exciting cosmopolitan playground. Yellow Square is a hostel in Rome.  Brown Square is a small green space in downtown Newburyport, Massachusetts. Blue Square is a hotel in Amsterdam

.

St Basil's Red Square

 

 

Blue Square Amsterdam            Brown Square Newburyport, MA

 

 

And you can dream big, by betting on black.  But oh dear, in Coral Springs Florida that only means "pennies on the dollar". Black Square Financial is a Coral Springs Florida company that features a great example of predatory advertising. Black Square Financial buys structured settlement payment rights at a discount and the most they can give you is pennies on the dollar, so you only get a fraction of what your asset is worth. 

 

Black Square Financial falsely represents to structured settlement annuitants that "you can take control of your policy".  That's a Prime Fib, with a loaded "faked potato" and "frazzled bunyans".  How can you control something that you don't own?

Screenshot of Black Square Financial home page 4-4-2022

To give a window to my serious concerns, read my May 10, 2020 blog, wherein I reported about an absolutely horrible Texas case that Jarrod Freeborn, one of the co-founders of Black Square Financial was involved with. It has to be one of the worst cases of predation I've reported about.  See FL Company Preyed on Mentally Disabled Man's Structure and Caused Alleged Loss of Government Benefits 

To say the least, from the Court record, Jarrod Freeborn's role in communicating with M.H., a mentally disabled man, with the severity of afflictions described therein and partially reproduced below, was absolutely shocking.

Read the blog, Read the court decision and then ask yourself, what kind of judgment did/does Freeborn have to proceed with communicating with a person afflicted in such a way?  If you were Freeborn and you had this information, would you proceed or back off, like another factoring company did?

M.H., was described in the court record as (among other things)

• "M.H. is a forty-year-old man suffering from chronic schizophrenia and mental retardation. CR 948-49. These conditions are permanent, and M.H. has suffered from this condition his entire life. CR 948, 951 
• As a result of his condition, M.H.’s cognitive abilities are extremely limited:
  
  - he cannot live independently, and requires assistance with the most basic elements of daily life, such as bathing, changing his clothes and handling money;
  
  - his inability to work and take care of himself is the product of M.H.’s mental abilities, which are akin to those of a small child;
  
  among other problems, M.H. has an extremely poor memory, he thinks and acts slowly and even when given the same information time and time again, he is unable to comprehend and remember it;
  
  - at most, M.H. can follow simple, one-step instructions, but shows little understanding of his surroundings or what he is doing;
  
  - he is unable to remember even simple tasks that had multiple steps, being fired from a job at a car wash just days after being hired because he could not remember that he was supposed to do;
  
  - M.H. has little ability to read, and no ability to retain or understand what he has read;"

"Freeborn was described by Fairlawn as being an “independent sales contractor” responsible for arranging for the sale of M.H.’s annuity; it was Freeborn who communicated with M.H. on Fairlawn’s behalf. CR 1047. However, the question of who Freeborn worked for exactly is not entirely clear: according to Freeborn, it was not Fairlawn that provided him with the “leads” about people who might have an annuity to sell, but rather Rising Capital, another of Ferrante’s entities. CR 1262 (26:5-28:13. In fact, the comings and goings of the various companies Ferrante and other defendants formed, used, rearranged and then dissolved confused even Freeborn, who worked for them". Compare CR 1260 (19:14-21:5 (“Rising Capital as the company involved in the M.H. deal) with CR 1263 1(31:1-31 (Freeborn unfamiliar with the name of Fairlawn; he excused his unfamiliarity by saying “We used a lot of different entities”).

On May 7, 2020, the Appeals Court Affirmed in favor of M.H.  Read Memorandum Opinion here Download 2020-09-19-00306-cv Fairlawn Assets LLC John Ferrante Jarrod Freeborn v Booker

Photo credit: Red Square photo, by Julius Silver - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46508155. Others Wikipedia. 

Disclaimer: The use of any marks herein does not suggest any sponsorship, affiliation or relationship with owners of such marks. Any marks that may appear in commentary are in the context of fair use to discuss newsworthy topics presented herein.

Prudential Structured Settlement Annuitants Targeted in "Urgent Policy Updates" Scam

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Beware of a predatory letter from a Florida factoring company targeting Prudential structured settlement annuitants labeled in gigantic type" Urgent Policy Updates" that says:

"This letter is to inform you that you have accrued interest greater than $5,000.00 that is now accessible. Due to privacy measures, please call (844)974-4899 for an updated balance and to inform you if you would like to reinvest the earned interest. If no correspondence is received the earned interest may be forfeited.   To avoid the above action being taken, you must immediately do one of the following (within fourteen (14) days of this mailing)

1. Send correspondence in writing to the address listed...
2. Contact a case representative at the above number"

Rented PostNet Mailbox Used in "Urgent Policy Updates" Scam

The predatory letter purports to be from the StructuredSettlement Division Customer Outreach 2105 Vista Oeste NW Ste E #3268 Albuquerque, NM 87120-3693. The address is an Anytime rent-a-mailbox in Albuquerque, operated by Post Net.  See store image below and Download Digital Mailboxes in Albuquerque (New Mexico) _ Anytime Mailbox  

With all due respect to the owners of Anytime Mailbox or PostNet, why would Prudential Insurance Company of America, based in Newark, NJ, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, in business since 1875, be using a rent-a mailbox in Albuquerque, New Mexico?  We have determined that the company behind the letters is from Broward County Florida, in a state where there are 122 Anytime mailbox locations.  There's also a PostNet location in Lauderhill, Florida, just under 6 miles away. Why would the Florida factoring company need to use a New Mexico rent-a-mailbox as a return address on mailers to an annuitant on the East Coast, when there's a mailbox less than 6 miles away from their office?

10 More tell-tale signs of the "Urgent Policy Updates" scam

1. The reference number on the predatory letter does not correspond to the Prudential contract number of an actual structured settlement annuity. Not even close.
2. There are no Prudential "Urgent Policy Updates"
3. The phone number in the predatory letter does not correspond to Prudential customer service address or phone number.  Not even close. The legitimate Prudential structured settlement customer service number is 877-778-8118.
4. The signatory of the predatory company has no association with Prudential
5. The signatory does not appear on FINRA broker check, despite an investment solicitation
6. The signatory does not appear in the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database, despite an investment solicitation.
7. The title “Head of Structured Settlement Correspondence" is nonsense.  All the Prudential structured settlement customer service people I've dealt with in the last 27 years have been perfectly able to author their own correspondence.
8. The LinkedIn for the Florida structured settlement factoring company does not have an employee profile with the name of the signatory, or "Brian Williams", a name that an individual who answered a call to the number on the letter identified himself.
9. What "head of structured settlement correspondence" would misspell beneficiary, as "benifciary"?
10. If the Court record was not sealed, a structured settlement factoring company or its lead pimp could have got the payment date from that. However, chances are that they may fail to pick up on fine granular detail, such as for example, if the payments are going into a trust.

Why are such letters sent by structured settlement factoring companies?

The Broward County Florida based factoring company behind the letter, scraped information from public court records, or paid a fee to someone who had done so. Unfortunately, such activity is not uncommon in the structured settlement secondary market as I have covered extensively.

For example:

Insurance Company Imposters Scam Structured Settlement Annuitants in Texts, Email and Calls - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary (typepad.com)

High Pressure Structured Settlement Factoring Company Mailers Reviewed - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary (typepad.com)

Structured Settlement Asset Verification Mailer "Laws Have Changed" is Lead Pimping Nonsense - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary (typepad.com)

Funding Direct, LLC Deploys Structured Settlement Cash Now Reimbursement Scam and Fails - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and Commentary (typepad.com)

• Structured settlement factoring companies incorporate court scraped data into their databases, track for those reaching majority age and then attempt to solicit newly minted adults as they reach adulthood.
• Such annuitants represent big fish for factoring companies because they have likely not sold before and thus present ample future payments to target for exploitation.
• Structured settlement factoring companies can only give you pennies on the dollar. Every transaction represents a money loss.
• It turns out that the underwhelming "Urgent Policy Updates" is that the Broward County Florida structured settlement factoring company purports to have better rates this month (i.e., more pennies on the dollar, but still pennies on the dollar). 
• The Broward County Florida structured settlement factoring company behind the "Urgent Policy Updates" scam, is not listed as a member of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers.
• Consumers should avoid engaging with, or taking unsolicited advice from any unlicensed, non-credentialed actors in the structured settlement secondary market who resort to such tactics.  There's no need to lower the bar when it comes to your money.

Last updated January 16, 2024

 

 

 

FL Structured Settlement Factoring Reform Bill SB 1526 Seeks to Protect Sellers From Fraud Actors

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

The Florida Legislature finds that it is a public necessity that the personal identifying information and annuity contract numbers of a payee of a structured settlement and the names of family members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such payee be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s.21

State of Florida calls out fraudulent actors in secondary market

24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. "Recipients of structured settlements have been targets of criminal and fraudulent acts based upon publicly available identifying information and are especially vulnerable during transfer proceedings to fraudulent actors purporting to be from legitimate entities. These fraudulent actors may use such information to intercept transfer payments or obtain other sensitive information, such as bank account and social security numbers. The Legislature finds that the harm that may result from the release of personal identifying information and annuity contract numbers of a payee of a structured settlement and the names of family members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such payee outweighs any public benefit that may be derived from the disclosure of such information during the specified period". 

Florida Senate - 2022 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 1526 Ì345288OÎ345288

_________________________________________________________________________

"The incessant calling... I felt like I needed to sell the rest of my payments to get it to stop"-Annuitant

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Beneficiaries of such payee contained within a court file relating to a proceeding for the approval of the transfer of structured settlement payment rights under s. 626.99296. Such information shall remain exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution during the pendency of the transfer proceeding and for 6 months after the final court order approving, or not approving, the transferee’s application. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2027, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

Why Proposed Florida Amendment to Protect Annuitants Will Actually Make Some Factoring Companies Happy

The proposed Florida amendment Bill 1526 will make some factoring companies happy as it puts a damper on poaching of deals between competing structured settlement factoring companies.   Florida has a large concentration of such companies in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Company A spends millions on advertising and makes the initial contact with a Payee.  A customer enters into a purchase and sale agreement and a structured settlement transfer petition is filed. This alerts court scrapers who feed highly profitable leads to competing pennies on the dollar merchants, who will attempt to gazump Company A's offer through any means possible.

The new bill if passed may save some companies from have to supply sellers with burner cell phones and sequester them in hotels before hearings (to keep them away from competitors)

But what has been missing for two decades and still is missing is a licensing standard giving a regulator the power to fine, suspend or revoke licenses to do business in the state. There are no regulated standards of practice in the structured settlement secondary market, unlike other financial industries despite clear and convincing examples of malfeasance.

 

Don't Commit Fraud For Cash Now | NY Structured Settlement Payee Solicited by FL Company But Doesn't Fall For It

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

The New York resident's structured settlement was established when he was a child and the other day he expressed happiness with his structured settlement and no desire to sell.  The New York resident is now 25 years old.

The solicitation came out of the blue. A Florida structured settlement factoring company' s representatives met the annuitant for lunch in New York City in June 2021, at which which one of the owners of the Florida based Delaware registered company, nervously suggested that the annuitant could fly back with them to Florida (i.e with people he'd never met before), according to the annuitant.  The annuitant declined, well schooled in the old adage "don't get into cars (or onto airplanes) with strangers!"

New York to Florida is the classic structured settlement forum shopping "sucker's run"

All 50 states now have a structured settlement protection act, which requires a judge's approval that the structured settlement transfer is in the best interest of the payee and any applicable dependents. It's not supposed to be a rubber stamp (or a rubber duck for that matter) and New York judges happen to be some of the most scrutinizing.  It is because of this scrutiny that certain Florida company predators attempt to induce annuitants to commit fraud (and succeed), coaching them to fabricate and stage a Florida address, drivers license and other "proof of residency" for the purpose of completing a deal, which might not be approved in New York and, in the best of circumstances can pay the annuitant only pennies on the dollar.

Florida's courts have overseen some of the worst cases of financial rape of structured settlement annuitants. Efforts to vacate orders in forum shopped cases run into obstacles because a certain defense to be raised by the factoring company inducers' lawyers is that the annuitant was complicit in the fraud and therefore has "unclean hands".   [e.g. see  Lape v Structured Asset Funding, LLC et al  Supreme Court of the State of New York County  of Monroe Index E2020003377 Document 122,  Defendants' June 24, 2021  Reply Memorandum of Law "Plaintiff's Participation in the Alleged Fraud Requires Dismissal" ]

Don't Be Stupid. If you are asked to participate in fabricating an address in a state where you don't really reside  don't do it and report the company and its representatives to your state's attorney general's office.