by Structured Settlement Watchdog™
Tacky As Seen On TV ad by Prosperty Partners on Prosperity partner's owned annuitybuyout(dot)com.
Also evident on annuitybuyout(dot)com, the negligent gap in insurance and financial service regulation enables secondary market companies like Prosperity Partners to advertise guaranty life and health guaranty assocations that would otherwise be illegal. Insurance comissioners and NOLHGA please make note.
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The PPI Cash Blog reports that the Tennessee legislature "has looked to make living difficult for those reeling under poverty". A committee hearing on Wednesday is likely to discuss a bill which would prevent anyone receiving federal or state assistance (i.e. welfare) from winning $ 600 or excess in Tennessee state lottery payments.
The gist of the proposed bill is that those who cannot afford basic necessities and rely on public assistance should not be spending money on lotteries. PPI says that "people say that the government need not tell them how to spend their money". PPI suggests the Bill is inequitable because it treats those who are unemployed and those on welfare differently.
PPI goes on to say that "recent studies have concluded that the poor spend most percent of their income on lottery tickets than wealthier people. It's the old "dollar and a dream" concept, an effort to get out of poverty, even if winning odds are extremely slim.
According to PPI, the State of Tennessee review has found that nearly 50% of those individuals who received food stamps from state purchase lottery tickets. Nearly half of them are expected to stop playing if the bill is passed. PPI hopes the Tennessee legislature will not try to expand bill that prohibits large lottery winnings to those people who get state unemployment checks. The operative quote is "though remaining unemployed is difficult enough, remaining poor and unemployed is still worse".Boy, the way Glenn Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade.
Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days.
Didn't need no welfare state. Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days.
And you know who you were then. Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.
People seemed to be content. Fifty dollars paid the rent.
Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days.
Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Dodgers win.
Have yourself a dandy day that cost you under a fin.
Hair was short and skirts were long. Kate Smith really sold a song.
I don't know just what went wrong. Those Were The Days.
Lyrics: Lee Adams and Charles Strouse
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Prosperity Partners is using its blog network to attack what we have been attacking all along, the false claims of cash now made by certain factoring companies.
"There’s a great push going on these days to expose structured settlement (factoring) companies that aren’t being completely honest with their clients. They claim their clients can get their cash in no time at all. At least that’s the way they make it sound. But, the clients are turning the pages on these companies.
They’re complaints have brought to light these false claims which will help protect other structured settlement holders from falling into their trap. The truth is, because the sale of a structured settlement needs court approval, there’s really nothing quick about it." PPICash Maryland blog 4/11/2009
"Unfortunately, the structured settlement (factoring) industry isn’t immune from shady companies. Some of these
companies proclaim “Get your money in no time at all” when this just isn’t true,
unless of course you believe 90 days or more falls under the umbrella of “in no
time at all.”
That’s how long it take to get your money when you sell your structured settlement; at least on average. Actually, that’s just a
guesstimate. This 90 day period is only if nothing pops up to slow the process
down even further. As much as getting your money in no time at all sounds, it’s
just not the truth". PPI Cash Georgia blog 4/11/2009
Memo to the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General for Maryland and Georgia, start an investigation into these practices and do what it is that you do. There is a growing body of evidence to support your involvement!
Time to "tear the roof off this sucka"!
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
The following appears on the web site of Maryland Structured Settlements located at www.structuredsettlementsmaryland.com:
"If you sell your structured settlement to a third party that’s licensed, insured and bonded you get something that others, who sell to uninsured, unlicensed and non-bonded buyers don’t get. You get the security of knowing that if the buyer should go bankrupt you’ll still get your money.
Many states require a business to be covered with these important protections in place before they can do business in the state. This protects the consumer from potential financial harm. Doing business with a structured settlement buyer that isn’t licensed, insured or bonded is like playing Russian roulette with your money."
The site labeled Maryland Structured Settlements is registered to factoring company Prosperity Partners, according to GoDaddy.com
My readers know that one of my biggest beefs with the factoring industry is that there is no licensing requirement, no continuing education requirement and little regard overall for truth in advertising as evidenced by the cash now fraud that pervades the segment factoring industry buying structured settlement payment rights from tort victims.
It is possible that the reference is to being registered with the secretary of state in each state you do business. If any factoring company is operating in a state without registering with the secretary of state they deserve to be spanked HARD financially based on the dollar value of transactions concluded in the state, which can be easily determined by Court records. But registering with the SoS is a whole different thing than being professionally licensed. In the insurance biz very often both are needed.
I reached out to an officer of one of the factoring companies to see if there was something new about factoring company credentials that perhaps my tentacles of research had not discovered and the response was " if they're licensed it's news to me. Not sure what licensing authority is out there for this business. Maybe driver's licenses?"' Nuff Said!
And holy misplaced metaphors... "doing business with a structured settlement buyer that isn’t licensed, insured or bonded is like playing Russian roulette with your money", is that some fancy way of saying that money goes to your head?
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Paid to post shill for Prosperity Partners, Brit Julie-Ann Amos states in Structured Settlements in Georgia:
"It’s real easy to reach for the plastic when you don’t have the cash to pay for things. The problem with that is that your credit card debt piles up as well as an exorbitant amount of interest. And, let’s not even mention those late fees. But, if you own a structured settlement, you don’t necessarily have to keep relying on the plastic to make ends meet"
Amos suggests that you tap your structured settlement by selling structured settlement payment rights to "pay for things". There is no mention or consideration for how the individual has arrived in the financial predicament. Compulsive spending is an addiction like alcoholism. Someone who cares about an alcoholic is not going to support bad behavior, so why support the same in a spendthrift?
Without a well reasoned plan that includes education on how the person got there, a recognition of the reason and a plan to mitigate the risk of a recurrence, one is just throwing gasoline on the fire which could have disastrous consequences.There is a reason that credit cards have limits. The only thing standing between the recipient and cash now is a single person, the judge.
While not specifically referring to Prosperity Partners, despite feigned beneficence some factoring companies solicit consumers with "why wait?" sales pitches and bribe customers with promises of financial or "in kind" rewards for destroying long term financial security.
Ms. Amos who is not by any means an expert on structured settlements was the subject of our post "The Truth About Julie Ann Amos" last month. Further evidence is her contribution to financial illiteracy by referring to a cash now pusher as a structured settlement company...NOT TRUE!
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This UK based shill for Prosperity Partners has written "The Truth About Structured Settlement Awards". Her Linked In profile shows all sorts of interesting things including the unfortunate proof that Julie-Ann Amos has no bona fides on the subject of structured settlements.
Factoring company Prosperity Partners has registered a number of state specific web domains including structuredsettlementscalifornia.com. Even though it has its own talented writers, it seems to be hiring content generators to compete with the content being generated by "primary market" commentators. The problem with hiring ghost writers who have no background in your subject is that the lack of background may result in errors and factual inaccuracies which reflect poorly on your company. Moreover, it puts you on the radar of the stuctured settlement watchdog.
I would also like to stress to content generators like Julie-Ann Amos that if you intend to write about structured settlements you better research what you write, or you will be open to critique.
The author of "Hacking Reality," Amos, incorrectly states that "The total amount a court awards a plaintiff in a structured settlement is actually a life-time worth of payments, and not a sum the insurance company issues a one-time check for. It’s true, over time, you do get the total amount of the settlement, but you receive it in small increments which some people find just isn’t enough to make ends meet. You do have options however.
Comments
Julie Ann Amos posts are flooding the Internet on Prosperity Partners blogs in Georgia, New York, Arizona, Illinois as part of Prosperity partner's blitzkreig strategy. Once again Julie Ann Amos (picture above) has no credentials that qualify her as a structured settlement expert. She is simply a content generator, nothing more.
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog
A thank you is due to Prosperity Partners for providing subject matter expertise that supports our theory that "cash now" advertising is a FRAUDULENT inducement to some of the most vulnerable consumers, tort victims with structured settlements. Among other things Prosperity Partners warns structured settlement recipients of:
If I have one criticism of the Prosperity Partners is its ironic use of "cash now" advertising**. Although it is not as blatant as Stone Street Capital, J.G. Wentworth, Woodbridge Investments, Peachtree Settlement Funding, Imperial structured Settlements, Structured Settlement Investments and Novation Capital is it not false advertising, or "false promises" as Prosperity Partners' Director of Marketing Jason Rigler has so aptly put it?
We encourage the factoring industry and its members to STOP COMMITTING FRAUD! The "fraudsters" include the supposed leading members of the the National Association of Settlement Purchasers, an association which "cash now pusher" Imperial Structured Settlements (on its website) reminds us is "the trade association that determines best practices and provides strength and credibility to the industry".
On a technical note Prosperity states in its introduction "You have chosen to sell structured settlement payments because you have a distinct financial need that your settlement plan is not meeting. So it is imperative that those needs are met through the “sale” of your payments. In order to do that you will need to protect yourself and avoid the pitfalls that can impact people who sell structured settlement payments".
Not everyone who has a structured settlement has a settlement plan.
Not everyone who has a structured settlement has a financial plan.
If they have a plan, not everyone who has either one keeps up with their plan.
Read Most People Who Sell Structured Settlements Do So To Pay Their BIlls
**Download Cash now structured settlements AOL-Google Search 12122008
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Prosperity Partners suggests that "you can start dancing when you discover it's possible to get cash for an annuity", and "if you don't use all the cash", they tell you to "keep dancing by putting the balance in your savings account".
Of course PPI forgot to tell you that you will be "brake dancing" because by selling your annuity at a discount you will be simultaneously putting the brakes on your long term financial security. Does trading tax free or tax deferred benefits from the annuity for taxable savings account rates make so much sense that it will have you spinning on your head?
FREEZE FRAME! According to Bankrate.com money market savings accounts are paying on the average 2.43%. Interest Checking is paying on the average 1.58%.
Oh baby!
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On July 16, 2008 PPI Cash, a factoring company out of Lake Worth , Florida has published a blog called "Non- Qualified Annuities Rule" offering tips "to structured settlement annuity recipients and lottery winners" ,in following up to the recent IRS Private Letter Ruling obtained by IFS. The post needs some clarification to correct some errors in fact and context.
PPI Cash: In a nutshell (which is hard to do with cases of these types) the non-qualified
annuity can be used in a taxable damage case for the first time.
FACT: Non qualified structured annuities have been used for many years. The PLR simply clarifies the tax treatment governing a specific set of facts, involving an employment related settlement, which are set forth in the ruling.
PPI Cash: For those who don’t know, the non-qualified taxable annuity is one that is outside of any pension plan.
FACT: In this context a non qualified annuity is one that is used to fund payment of damages that do not fall within the tax exemption qualifications of IRC 104(a)(1) or 104(a)(2)
PPI Cash: Employment cases are notorious for dragging on and on in court while racking up plenty of legal fees. Once agreement is reached the person then at least has the option of selling the structured settlement to get the cash due them quickly.
QUESTION: Is PPI suggesting that a structured settlement agreement be reached and THEN the person immediately contact PPI or any other factoring company to sell the structured settlement? I certainly hope not.
COMMENTS:
MESSAGE TO FACTORING INDUSTRY: if you are going to hold yourself out as an authority in a putative effort "to take up shelf space" on the search engines at least do your homework
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"Want A Better Payment Structure: Sell Settlements for Cash" screams the headline at Settlementstocash.com, apparently the alter ego of Prosperity Partners, Inc. (a/k/a PPI Cash according to the domain registration.
Something of a woofer for the structured settlement watchdog...
"We also offer a more flexible deferred payment plan as an alternative to the restrictive disbursement schedule imposed by the payment structure from settlements and annuities"
Hmm..wonder what that is...? and... let's try to figure if this makes sense.
(1) Evidently you are expected to sell your structured settlement (annuity) payment rights in exchange for a deep discounted lump sum of cash and then you will get another deferred payment plan. Is it tax-free? Probably not. If you are thinking about doing business with these folks or any other factoring company with a similar scheme you'd better ask that question!
(2) Is it an insurance product? Probably not. We previously reported that a licensee search conducted through the Florida Division of Financial Services showed neither the firm, nor firm's principal Wayne Calhoun nor Jason M. Rigler, its director of marketing, who can count the seminal "Structured Settlements Are Like Ants" among his works, were licensed in Florida or appointed by any insurance companies, in Florida. A search conducted today shows that neither of those parties are currently listed as licensees or appointees in Florida.
(3) If it was an insurance product such as a deferred annuity it might not make sense because you'd effectively first pay a deep discount for cashing out your rights and then pay again after that with the follow on deal. Structured settlement payment recipients you are paying the factoring company by accepting that huge discount!. Then you are paying a commission on whatever other financial product that the scheme requires whether that be (a) commission to an insurance agent for another insurance product or annuity or (b) trustee fee to a trust company or (c) a portfolio management fee to a money manager and you are giving up tax-free income for tax-deferred (which means you eventually have to pay taxes) or taxable income
Holy Light Bulbs Batman! Is this what JG Wentworth means when it talks about "restructured settlements" on Restructuredsettlements.com? (see January 15, 2006 post on that subject!)
Make sure you look at the mathematics! Ask the factoring company, advanced funding company, or buyer of structured settlement payments rights, for a written projection of when you are expected to break even. If a purchase of securities is being suggested remember that securities fluctuate and if you read the legally required disclosures you will find that nothing is guaranteed.
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