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What Is A Structured Settlement Annuity? | Separating Fact From Fiction

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

What is a Structured Settlement Annuity?

• A structured settlement annuity is insurance product that (1) can provide multiple payment streams, as well as (2) different types of structured settlement payments,  in a single annuity contract that can be customized to a person's needs.
• A structured settlement annuity is often (but not exclusively) used as a "qualified funding asset", as the latter term is defined by IRC 130(d).
  

What is a Qualified Funding Asset?

For purposes of IRC 130(d), the term “qualified funding asset" means any annuity contract issued by a company licensed to do business as an insurance company under the laws of any State, or any obligation of the United States, if—

(1)  such annuity contract or obligation is used by the assignee to fund periodic payments under any qualified assignment,

(2) the periods of the payments under the annuity contract or obligation are reasonably related to the periodic payments under the qualified assignment, and the amount of any such payment under the contract or obligation does not exceed the periodic payment to which it relates,

(3) such annuity contract or obligation is designated by the taxpayer (in such manner as the Secretary shall by regulations prescribe) as being taken into account under this section with respect to such qualified assignment, and

(4) such annuity contract or obligation is purchased by the taxpayer not more than 60 days before the date of the qualified assignment and not later than 60 days after the date of such assignment.

 

It should be noted that the term "structured settlement annuity" does not appear in IRC 130(d).

 

Examples of Where a Structured Settlement Annuity Would Not Be Used as a Qualified Funding Asset 

 

A structured settlement annuity can be used in cases involving taxable damages.  A non-qualified assignment is used in such cases  (or parts of cases) involving such damages.

 

Examples of What is NOT a Structured Settlement Annuity

• Acquired structured settlement payment rights  (the rights to someone else's structured settlement).  See the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' statutory issue paper No. 160, issued April 6, 2019.  Plaintiffs, Counsel, Guardians Ad Litem, Probate and Surrogate judges and investors, should be leery of any attempt by a settlement planner or financial adviser to pass off the direct or indirect acquisition of factored structured settlement payment streams as a structured settlement annuity.  Such unregulated products carry higher risks than structured settlement annuities and may not have the same statutory protections.
• A retail single premium immediate annuity is an annuity, but it is not a structured settlement annuity
• A retail single premium deferred annuity is an annuity, but it is not a structured settlement annuity
• A retail deferred index annuity is an annuity, but it is not a structured settlement annuity
• A retail fixed index annuity is an annuity, but it is not a structured settlement annuity

None of these becomes a structured settlement annuity just because it is owned by an independent assignment company.

What Do Structured Settlement Annuity Issuers Say?

A quick survey of insurance companies underwriting structured settlement annuities shows that about half of them specifically identify with structured settlements. Not a single one would sell a structured settlement annuity to an independent assignment company.  

1. The Prudential Insurance Company of America

Single Premium Structured Settlement Annuity Certificate

2. Pacific Life Insurance Company/ Pacific Life and Annuity Company  (New York)

Single Premium Settlement Annuity

3. USAA Life  Insurance Company  

Single Premium Immediate Annuity  (For Use as a Funding Asset in Structured Settlement Assignments)

4. New York Life Insurance Company

Lists Plan as Structured Settlement on contract

Others do not.

Would any structured settlement annuity issuer sell a structured settlement annuity to an independent assignment company?

None of the structured settlement annuity issuers that we canvassed for this post on November 2, 2021 would sell a structured settlement annuity to an independent assignment company.

Assignment Fees

With one exception, Qualified Assignment fees will not be over $750 for a true structured settlement annuity

You may find some independent assignment companies charging higher fees, perhaps even asset based qualified assignment fees that are a significant multiples of what the insurance company subsidiary qualified assignment companies charge.

Last updated August 19, 2023

 

Defendant Motions Her to Stay and She Rejects Them, Again

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Annuitant v Structured Settlement Factoring Company (New York edition)

Dorothy and Toto

On October 12, 2021, Judge Ann Marie Taddeo dealt another procedural blow to Structured Asset Funding in their effort to wriggle out of the allegation of fraud case against the Fort Lauderdale Florida structured settlement factoring company. [ Philip Lape, Plaintiff v Structured Asset Funding, LLC d/b/a 123 LumpSum, Insurance Company of North America, and Life Insurance Company of North America, Defendants  Supreme Court of the State of New York Monroe County Index No. E2020003377]  See  Copy of Complaint in Lape v  Structured Asset Funding dba 123 Lump- Sum et al. 

The Lape lawsuit against SAF/123 Lump Sum stems from a series of transfers in which SAF/123 Lump Sum allegedly induced Lape to come to Florida to do the deals even though they knew he was a resident and domiciled in New York. The Complaint against SAF/123 Lump sum includes copies of emails from Mel Luback, then an employee of Structured Asset Services that speak for themselves, highlighting who induced who as well as the manufacturing that was done to do the deal in Florida. As one would expect, like they did to Terrence Taylor in a  West Virginia to Virginia case filed in 2015 and ongoing, part of SAF/123 Lump Sum's defense has been to attack their former client saying they were complicit in the fraud. Forum shopping was a dirty little secret of the structured settlement factoring industry before it began to get exposed in a series of legal cases and chronicled here. Judge Michelle Morley's courtroom in Sumter County became the de facto structured settlement forum shopping mall of the South until Florida's structured settlement transfer laws were tightened up.

But what's interesting in this case is that Lape is seeking fraud damages and not trying to overturn the Florida orders.

Structured Asset Funding was highlighted as a "whale hunter" in Access Funding's training manual obtained from the Consumer Financial Training Bureau website.

Lape case Timeline

May 16, 2020              Action Commenced

June 30, 2020             Structured Asset/123 Lump Sum moves to Dismiss

December 15, 2020     Judge Ann Marie Taddeo denies the Structured Asset motion

January 8, 2021          Structured Asset moves to reargue

February 25, 2021       "No dice" from Judge Taddeo. She denies Structured Asset Funding's motion

March 23, 2021           Structured Asset file a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff opposed and moved to compel SAF to comply with the Court's previous                                   Order of discovery

July 28, 2021              Judge Taddeo denies the SAF motion for summary judgment and granted Plaintiff's motion to compel

August 3, 2021            Structured Asset filed Notice of Appeal and moved for stay of discovery pending the appeal.

October 12, 2021        Court denies motion to stay discovery. reasoning that any further delay in conduction discovery will only serve to prejudice  Plaintiff's                                      ability to prosecute his case.

If "Toto" were here, Dorothy might tell Structured Asset Funding (123Lump Sum) "we're not in Portsmouth anymore", a nod to the Terrence Taylor mess that has seen a black annuitant's "10 transfers in 2 years" case stretched out over 6 years through the "impressive" legal maneuvers of Portsmouth Virginia attorney Steve Heretick who was disqualified from the Taylor case earlier this month with 24 motions pending, some for almost 6 years.

 

Factoring Company Rep Coached Annuitant About Forum Shopping and Then Predictably Accused Him of Fraud

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

The Lape lawsuit against Structured Asset Funding/123 Lump Sum stems from a series of transfers in which SAF/123 Lump Sum allegedly induced New York resident Philip Lape to come to Florida to do the deals even though they knew he was a resident of and domiciled in New York. As reported here, the May 26, 2020 Complaint against SAF/123 Lump sum includes copies of emails from Mel Luback, then an employee of Structured Asset Services that speak for themselves, highlighting who induced who as well as the manufacturing that was done to do the deal in Florida. As one would expect, part of SAF/123 Lump Sum's defense has been to attack the customer and alleged victim for in pari delicto, saying they were complicit in the fraud. Forum shopping was a dirty little secret of the structured settlement factoring industry before it began to get exposed in a series of legal cases and chronicled here. One not so shining example was Judge Michelle Morley's courtroom in Sumter County Florida, which figuratively served as a structured settlement forum shopping "convenience store" until Florida's structured settlement transfer laws were tightened up in 2016.

As predicted, Structured Asset Funding argues the following in its submission to the New York State Supreme Court in Monroe County New York earlier this month...

"Plaintiff May Not Benefit From a Scheme He Claims to Have Participated"

Simply stated, the Complaint and the documents remitted by Structured Asset on this motion demonstrate that Plaintiff is asking one of two things of this Court. He wants the Court to reach a different determination about his domicile than was reached in Florida, because that different conclusion is the basis for finding that the Florida proceedings were fraudulent and “fatally flawed.” Or he wants the Court to issue relief to him notwithstanding what would be his own active participation in a purported fraud. Indeed, he would have participated in multiple different Florida proceedings spanning multiple years without ever raising any issue as to his purported disagreement with domicile. In fact, almost six (6) years went by before he even raised it in this Court. Moreover, he admittedly made at least one in-person court appearance, signed no lease (sic) than five sworn statements attesting to his domicile and actively obtained his license, apartment and bank accounts in furtherance of the proceedings. It is well settled that courts will not grant relief to one who bases his claim upon his own illegal act, or a transaction in which he was an unlawful participant".

In What You Need To Know Before Selling Structured Settlement Payments in 2021, one of the cardinal rules for consumers is " If a Representative of a Structured Settlement Buyer or their Lawyer Tells You to Lie About Your Residence, Run Now!" . Forum shopping is a sucker play for structured settlement annuitants.

Forum Shopping is a suckers' play. It's safer and cheaper to buy a Tootsie Pop

 

Lape v 123 Lump Sum | Insurer Moves For Interpleader

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Insurance Company of North America has moved for an interpleader in the matter of Philip Lape vs Structured Asset Funding dba 123 Lump Sum, a structured settlement transfer dispute that is pending in Monroe County New York also seeking attorney fees and expenses. Lape seeks among other things, a declaratory judgment that Lape was and always has been  resident of Monroe County New York and that the proper jurisdiction is and was Monroe County New York.   [ NY Sup. Monroe Cty E2020003377]

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Side Bar

What does interpleader mean?

Interpleader is a way for a holder of property to initiate a suit between two or more claimants to the property. If, for example,

Lape lived in Florida? That's "Bull", says lawsuit

A holds property that he knows he does not own, but that both B and C are claiming, A can sue both B and C in an interpleader action, where B and C could litigate who actually owns the property.  [Source: Legal Information Institute Cornell]

If the judge grants the interpleader, then the Insurance Company of North America will not pay Structured Asset Funding/ 123 LumpSum or its assignees (if SAF/123 which originated the disputed deals assigned its rights to another investor or investors)  Instead such payments will be paid into the Court to be held until the matter is resolved.

In Portsmouth Circuit Court in Virginia,  in another matter that SAF/123 is contesting, that was the subject of a blistering December 27, 2015 Washington Post expose, a motion for interpleader has been pending for more than 4 years, allowing close to a million dollars to go to assignees. The a hotly disputed Terrence Taylor case also involves alleged forum shopping and the virtual obliteration the structured settlement of a permanently injured African American victim (who now subsists on disability) through an unconscionable number of transactions in 2 years. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Lape lawsuit against SAF/123 Lump Sum stems from a series of transfers in which SAF/123 Lump Sum allegedly induced Lape to come to Florida to do the deals even though they knew he was a resident and domiciled in New York. The Complaint against SAF/123 Lump sum includes copies of emails from Mel Luback, then an employee of Structured Asset Services that speak for themselves, highlighting who induced who as well as the manufacturing that was done to do the deal in Florida. As one would expect, part of SAF/123 Lump Sum's defense has been to attack their victim saying they were complicit in the fraud. Forum shopping was a dirty little secret of the structured settlement factoring industry before it began to get exposed in a series of legal cases and chronicled here. Judge Michelle Morley's courtroom in Sumter County became the structured settlement forum shopping mall of the South until Florida's structured settlement transfer laws were tightened up.

Insurance Company of North America contends that upon information and belief, Monroe County has personal jurisdiction over Mr. Lape inasmuch as Mr. Lape resides in Monroe County, New York, and has alleged that the facts and events giving rise to his Complaint filed in this matter have occurred in Monroe County, New York.  This Court has personal jurisdiction over SAF because it transacts business within this State. This is an action seeking certainty regarding the parties’ respective rights to receive periodic structured settlement payments. Venue is proper in this Court says INA.

See  Copy of Complaint in Lape v  Structured Asset Funding dba 123 Lump- Sum et al.

Fraudulent Scheme to Evade NY Structured Settlement Protection Statute by 123 LumpSum Says New Complaint

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Lawsuit Filed in Monroe County Maps Out Alleged Fraudulent Structured Settlement Factoring Forum Shopping Scheme

• A Rochester New York man has filed a a complaint against Fort Lauderdale based Structured Asset Funding, LLC d/b/a 123 LumpSum alleging a fraudulent scheme that involved faking the  Plaintiff's relocation to Florida and the filing of two fraudulent structured settlement transfer petitions in Charlotte Circuit Court. 
• Plaintiff also alleges that 123 LumpSum fraudulently obtained life insurance policies from Sagicor and Nationwide Life Insurance Company on Mr. Lape's life, the sole benefit of which was for a hedge for 123 LumpSum's assignees who lack insurable interest in Lape's life.
  
• The Complaint allege that 123 LumpSum deliberately misled Lape into participating in a fraudulent scheme orchestrated and master-minded by 123 Lump Sum to circumvent New York law.
• As a result of 123 Lump Sum's fraudulent scheme, the Complaint alleges that Mr. Lape fell prey to Re-Start Financial, Inc. (which plaintiffs believe is related to 123 Lump Sum) and was bilked out of a further $1,000,000 of his periodic payments in another fraudulent Florida transaction.

See Philip Lape , Plaintiff v Structured Asset Funding, LLC d/b/a 123 LumpSum, Insurance Company of North America, and Life Insurance Company of North America, Defendants New York State Supreme Court County of Monroe Index E2020003377 filed May 26, 2020.  Download Lape v 123 LumpSum 2020-05-26 E2020003377 SUMMONS___COMPLAINT

• The action seeks a declaratory judgment pursuant to New York CPLR 3001, monetary damages for fraud, and damages for repeated violations of New York's Deceptive Trade Practices Law, N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law Section 349.

Damning Emails from Structured Asset Services representative clearly show the New York to Florida Inducement and Coaching

On December 5, 2014 12:09pm , Rochester New York resident Philip Lape  received an email from Mel Luback of Structured Asset Services in Fort Lauderdale Florida, which said

" Please reach out to Andrew Cummings at 305-979-8420 when you have a minute. He is representing you at the hearing Monday and would like to speak with you briefly. Also please send back the insurance information by FedEx I sent last week"

But despite what Philip Lape was led to believe in Mel Luback's email, Cummings was NOT representing Philip Lape. Cummings was the attorney representing 123 LumpSum, the Fort Lauderdale Company that was seeking to buy Lape's structured settlement payments for pennies on the dollar.

According to the 123 LumpSum website "Structured Asset Holdings, LLC mainly conducts business under the brands of 123 Lump Sum, ** Cash, Structured Asset Funding, and Structured Asset Services, LLC. They operate as specialty finance companies that purchase structured settlements and insurance annuities". [ Retrieved June 3, 2020]

The rest of the "caper", with a damning email "paper trail"  (sourced from the Complaint against 123 Lump Sum)

• On July 14, 2014 , 123 Lump Sum filed a Verified Petition under New York's Structured Settlement Protection Act 5-1701, et seq. seeking court approval in Monroe Supreme Court  Index 8675/2014. 123 Lump Sum's counsel Sacco & Fillas attached a copy of the NY Structured Settlement Protection Act to the petition stating that the NYSSPA " is the controlling statute in this proceeding".
  
• On September 15, 2014 Justice Elma A. Bellini signed the Order to Show Cause filed by 123 Lump Sum and scheduled a hearing on November 7, 2014. Judge Bellini also ordered 123 Lump Sum to serve Philip Lape and the and the Monroe County Division of Social Services and Monroe County Child Support Enforcement Unit.
  
• This must have rattled 123 Lump Sum, because on October 17, 2014, Mel Luback, then purchasing agent for 123 Lump Sum told Philip Lape that 123 Lump Sum had a sure-fire way to do the deal in Florida instead of New York.
• Six days later, 123 Lump Sum filed a Notice of Continuance withdrawing the New York Petition and served it on Philip Lape at his Rochester New York address.
• On October 28, 2014, 123 LumpSum advanced $2,000 to Philip Lape  and told him to use this money to go to Florida to rent an apartment. Working with realtor Tia Torres, Luback emailed Lape from his Structured Asset Services email address many times with possible apartments to rent
• Lape ended up signing a short-term lease for an apartment in Jacksonville, Florida from November 7, 2014 to June 7, 2016, but at the direction of of 123 Lump Sum (according to the Complaint), Lape cancelled the lease on January 4, 2015
• The rent was allegedly paid to the landlord Jason David Braeburn by Western Union.
• On November 21, 2014 at 10:34am Philip Lape received an email from Mel Luback, from his Structured Asset Services email address, stating that " The chances of approval are very good almost certain but I don't want to jinx it. Rhett (Wadsworth) can give you some more money but we would have to send it to the Florida address or if you opened a bank account in Florida that will work also. Also please please get that birth certificate because we need a Florida ID/Drivers License before this is all said and done"
• On or about November 25, 2014 123 Lump Sum sends Fed Ex package to Lape in New York with insurance documents to be signed and returned to 123 Lump Sum.
• December 1, 2014 12:44pm , Mel Luback told Philip Lape by email, from his Structured Asset Services email address, that 123 LumpSum's attorney "will not sign off with a New York bank or New York address. Doing so will only raise questions with the insurance company and possibly object the transfer which we don't want" 
• December 5, 2014  12:00pm Mel Luback, again from his Structured Asset Services email address told Lape that Andrew Cummings would be representing him at the hearing in Florida. It was a lie. He was in fact representing 123 LumpSum not Philip Lape.
• 123 LumpSum told Lape that he needed to return to Florida to get obtain a Florida ID and open an account with Wells Fargo. Lape drives back to At the instruction of Luback.
• The first petition in Charlotte County Circuit Court 14002769CA was approved in December 2014.  Lape did not appear at the hearing before Judge Donald Mason in Charlotte County because he was at home in Rochester, New York.  Plaintiffs contend that the 2014 Petition was fraudulent because 123 Lump Sum knew Lape lived in New York not Florida.
• IRONY!   April 14, 2015, 123 Lump Sum publishes a blog "Don't be Fooled by Structured Settlement Scams"
• June 1, 2015 123 Lump Sum d/b/a  Cutler Pines files another allegedly fraudulent petition in Charlotte County  to buy $1,002,072.35 in future payments for a lump sum of $200,000. Since Lape no longer had a fake lease agreement, 123 Lump Sum used an address belonging to Lape's father. No one would ever know  that he did not live since he now had a Florida ID from the previous fraudulent transaction. Plaintiff contend that the Charlotte Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction given that at all times relevant Lape  was domiciled in the State of New York.
• June 16, 2015, 123 Lump Sum sent a paramedical examiner to Lape's home in Rochester, New York to conduct an exam for a life insurance policy.
• June 29, 2015 Charlotte judge approved second alleged fraudulent transaction.

 

Pay attention attorneys representing insurance companies and investors in scam labeled "secondary market annuities".  Cases that are forum shopped may lead to legal challenges down the road like this one and as a result will incur additional expense that will drive down or turn a positive return into a negative one.

A Pattern and Practice?

When deals go South, literally, and the annuitant wants to take legal action against the factoring company, their convenient defense is that the annuitant was complicit in the fraud (the fraud they were induced to commit by unlicensed and unregulated salespeople). Other favored destinations have included Portsmouth Virginia and apparently in recent years Connecticut.

The Structured Asset Services emails speak for themselves.  How many gullible New Yorkers have been lured to Florida by 123 Lump Sum and other structured settlement factoring companies during this time frame before Florida Structured Settlement Protection Act was reformed?  Lape wasn't the only one.

The Terrence Taylor lawsuit against the same defendant and a related entity in Portsmouth Virginia contains allegations of forum shopping as well  (from West Virginia to Virginia).

Ironically, 6 months after the aforementioned "Lape Caper", 123 Lump Sum posted in the Latest News section of its website a blog titled "Don’t Be Fooled by Structured Settlement Scams"

Where Are They Now?

Mel Luback and Rhett Wadsworth are now with WePayMoreFunding.

 

Dismissal in Structured Settlement Broker Anti-Trust Suit v MLMIC is Affirmed

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

The Appellate Division for the 4th Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court  has affirmed the lower court's decision to dismiss the anti-trust lawsuit brought by a Buffalo structured settlement broker against Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company and several members of its structured settlement panel.  The 4th Department decision was entered October 2, 2015. in

 PAUL K. ISAAC AND PARAMOUNT SETTLEMENT PLANNING, LLC, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS vs MEDICAL LIABILITY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, RINGLER ASSOCIATES, INC., BLACK, HOLCOMB, SMITH & ASSOCIATES, INC., KIPNES CROWLEY GROUP, LLC, THE PENSION COMPANY, AND JMW SETTLEMENTS, INC., DEFENDANTS-RESPONDENTS. 914 CA 15-00256

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Timothy J. Walker, A.J.), entered April 23, 2014. The order granted the motions of defendants to dismiss the second amended complaint.  The 4th department stated:

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs for reasons stated in the decision at Supreme Court.

Read Structured Settlement Anti-Trust Case Against Medical Liability Mutual and Brokers Dismissed, my April 25, 2014 write up of the Supreme Court decision.

 

 

Does Life Insurance Company Have Responsibility to Annuitant in Structured Settlement Transfers?

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Is Florida structured settlement forum shopping alive and well outside of Judge Michelle Morley's Sumter County courtroom?

After receiving an anonymous tip concerning a pending structured settlement transfer with effective discount rate in excess of 19% with a June 8, 2015 transfer hearing in Lake County Florida, a brief investigation suggests a conflict between publicly available information and information contained in a notarized affidavit signed by the annuitant and submitted by the licensed attorney for the settlement purchaser. 

The notary, who I spoke with yesterday said that the annuitant supplied him with a New York license, and the notary also stated that the annuitant "was moving to Florida".  The annuitant who signed the document stated he was a resident of Florida.  However there is nothing in the background check that shows any connection to Florida.  A "585" Monroe County New York cell phone tied to the annuitant was personally verified with a greeting of the annuitant with the Lake County Florida petition. The annuitant's LinkedIn profile lists current employment at a Rochester New York based company.

Calls made to the annuitant and to the transfer attorney, who is also believed to have a financial interest in the settlement purchaser were not returned.

The legal representative for the insurance company, who I spoke with yesterday, seemed satisfied with the declaration of domicile provided, which I understood to include a Florida voter registration card and a copy of a lease and felt the judge would approve the transfer on that basis and saw no reason to use the resources of her client, one of of the currently writing structured settlement annuity issuers, to  chase down the driver's license or contact the notary.  The allegations in the amended complaint Lafontant v Imperial Structured Settlements case should give anyone pause.

What astonished me was the attorney's ascerbic comments about "serial structured settlement sellers" in connection with the Terrence Taylor and Michael Lafontant cases. I sure hope that the comments of the subject attorney whose law firm, upon information and belief gets significant amounts of billable legal work from annuity issuers of structured settlements, does not represent the views of the annuity issuer on the case in question or any other company it represents. 

Should lawyers for annuity issuer or assignee,  squawk about "best interest" when they are up at the plate? The same law firm represented Allstate Life Insurance Company in another Florida transfer in 2013 in which a 29 year old father with toddlers was approved to sell his entire Allstate $60,000 tax-free lifetime annual income stream for under $600,000.  Allstate, the law firm's own client may have offered a better rate than the settlement purchaser!  Fortunately for the annuitant, he ended up retaining legal counsel and a compromise saw the structured settlement transfer order vacated and his payments restored. Is a higher or lower discount rate in the annuitant's best interest?

The attorney and law firms client's through their appointed agents, market their products extolling the protections that were fought for more than a decade ago that resulted in structured settlement transfer laws in the majority of states that are used in sales pitches and marketing materials to help convince plaintiff lawyers, judges and parents of minors that a structured settlement is difficult to squander. The structured settlement protection acts are the foundation for any transfer work and significant revenues that such law firms derive from that work.

The structured settlement secondary market is dangerously under regulated. Reckless marketing and solicitation of structured settlement annuitants by certain players, would not have a prayer of being kosher in any financial marketplace that regulates sales practices are a pock mark on the industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NY Structured Settlement Protection Act | 2010 Amendment Requires Payee to Attend Hearing

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

The New York Structured Settlement Protection Act amendment signed into law in 2010 by then New York Governor David A. Patterson (bills S3681/A6766), added a requirement that the structured settlement payee attend the hearing to approve the transfer of structured settlement payment rights.

New York General Obligations Law 5-1705 

1. Approval of transfer shall be by a special proceeding brought on by an Order to Show Cause
2. At this hearing, the payee shall attend before the Court unless attendance is excused for good cause  NY G.O.L. Section 5-1705(e).

By having a Payee appear before the Court in person or virtually, the judge has the opportunity to examine the witness and get a read on them and their comprehension of what they are asking the court to approve and why (in their own words). 

Read More

Selling A Structured Settlement in 2024? Get The 411 on Cash Now. Don't Be a Victim (4structures.com)

Independent Professional Advice (IPA) for Structured Settlement Sellers (4structures.com)

Last updated October 12, 2024