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

SMA | It Isn't This Convoluted If You Buy a Legitimate Annuity

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

My word! 

There are many more steps to creating an intellectually dishonest Secondary Market "Annuity" than applying for a legitimate annuity. 

Setting aside the immutable fact that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) does not recognize acquired structured settlement payment rights (structured settlement receivables) as an annuity or insurance product [see Statutory Issue Paper No. 160, finalized April 6, 2019], the fact that the following chart (sourced from EquityNet for critical commentary 2/16/2022) shows 13 steps for a single deal, should erase any lingering doubts.

If you are a financial planner or settlement planner who recommended that your client buy and you subsequently sold them structured settlement receivables that you told them was an annuity, you may want to change your underwear now. 

When the layers of the onion are eventually pulled back you may find that many who advised investors to buy these instruments did not fully understand the product they recommended and/or sold to their clients.  Did they do enough?

One wonders what a similar chart for the DeAngelo Simmons/Paul Millsap, Atlantic Solutions,  and Michael Vick deals would look like, and whether or not investors would have still gone through with the transactions they did, or would have taken a pass.

Buying a Legitimate Annuity is Much Simpler Than This    

 

 

A Rattlesnake Marketed as an Annuity | Factored Athlete Contracts as Investments for Vulnerable People?

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Thinking about investing in a purported factored athlete contract? Think again

I want you to read the below excerpts of testimony from Arizona attorney Andrea Watters in a September 2021 hearing. It should send chills down the spines

Diamondback rattlesnake

of anyone seeking to invest in any purported athlete contracts. In addition to being an attorney, Ms. Watters was a trustee for a 65-year-old disabled man, who had worked with a licensed insurance agent before and had a high degree of trust.

The Arizona insurance agent allowed another insurance agent (without a valid Arizona license) to interface with the client, but what they were selling was not an insurance product, not an annuity.

It was a purported factored athlete's agent contract. The matter was quickly settled and although it subject to a confidentiality agreement it is presumed that certain investors were made whole following the filing of Waters' suit.

Other claims in other jurisdictions (New York, Maryland) remain open against many of the same parties over the same subject matter. 

Paul Millsap, an NBA player with the Brooklyn Nets, was purported to be the guarantor of the payments, the way it appears the product was marketed to investors and to financial advisors. In fact, some of the documents said " NBA annuity" even though it wasn't an annuity or issued or guaranteed by the NBA.  But a sworn affidavit by Millsap casts shade on the credibility of the entire deal. Millsap swore he did not sign the documents, did not authorize anyone to sign on his behalf.  We've learned from the notary public that Brendan DeAngelo Simmons, MIllsap's uncle and agent allegedly signed Paul Millsap's name but did not denote same as Power of Attorney. Not doing so might lead any investor to think it was signed by Paul Millsap himself. 

While it appears that Watter's client was made whole last Fall (why else would they have a confidential settlement weeks after filing?) it does not take away the serious questions about the deal and parties who originated and distributed it playing out in courts on the East Coast. Stay tuned.

An unsecured high risk factoring agreement ...no security and no guarantee and there should be"

 

"... No insurance for what they've done"

 

SMA Flub | SMA Hub Email to Investor Described Receivable as "Premium" in "Low-Risk NBA Deal"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

As part of a continued examination of the secondary and tertiary market for structured settlements and now other types of cash flows occasionally masqueraded using terms associated with annuities, there are some more dots we can now connect.

Trenton Douglass Was an SMA Hub Pitchman for Factored Athlete Contracts

Trenton Douglass, a former employee of SMA Hub sent emails to an investor in 2019 referring to a purported investment in NBA player Paul Millsap's agent Brendan DeAngelo Simmon's purported agent's fee as a "premium" and as a "low risk NBA deal".  But it wasn't a premium, wasn't an annuity and was not an NBA deal.

When asked to explain "low risk" by the investor, Douglass replied:

"We have this deal extremely buttoned up with the Confessed Judgements and UCC-1s put into place on all associated parties. But as with all deals, nothing is 100%. We have made this deal as close to being 100% secured as we can possibly make it. I can send you over some documents on the deal, than (sic) I can have Jonathan Walker give you a call tomorrow to talk it over if you would like".

According to Trent Douglass' LinkedIn profile when retrieved January 12, 2022, in his 2 years and 2 months at SMA Hub, his role included (among other things)

• Developed a strategic plan for the sale of Secondary Market Annuities to Attorneys and Structured Settlement Consultants.
• Origination through sale of factored professional athlete contracts.
• Wholesaler of low-risk and guaranteed financial products, factored professional sports contract investments
• Managed over 50 active agents registered representatives to our company.

What is a premium?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (and relevant to solicitations by a company whose initials stand for Secondary Market Annuity)

 

NOUN

1. an amount to be paid for an insurance policy

    

In fact, the deal was not an "NBA deal" and the investment was not an annuity or insurance policy. It turned out that the investment was not low risk. 

According to a December 2021 affidavit signed by Paul Millsap, notarized by Linda B. Rosner, a Georgia notary public, which Millsap's attorneys submitted in a court proceeding to contest a confessed judgment in Maryland obtained by a New York investor in October 2021 and re-opened January 12, 2022:

• Millsap claimed that he was not in front of a notary in Atlanta Georgia on March 15, 2019. He was in Denver Colorado, for the Denver Nuggets at that time.
• Millsap did not have any involvement in the preparing of any of the documents, did not sign any of the documents, and did not authorize anyone else to sign any of the documents on his behalf.
• Millsap was not aware of any of the documents, nor had he heard of Mr. Lee Jundanian, Mr. Jonathan Walker, or Atlantic Capital, LLC, until 2021. Download Millsap Affidavit 12-2021

According to the Sixth Affirmative Defense in the January 7, 2022 Verified Answer and Counterclaim filed by Lee Jundanian, Reliance Funding, LLC and Atlantic Solutions, LLC in response to an ongoing New York investor action  "The investment controversy arising out of the investigation of plaintiff's attorney as plaintiff's fiduciary call into question the validity of plaintiff's investment through acts or omissions of third parties for whose conduct defendants LEE JUNDANIAN, RELIANCE FUNDING and ATLANTIC SOLUTIONS LLC were also misled and for which defendants LEE JUNDANIAN, RELIANCE FUNDING and ATLANTIC SOLUTIONS LLC are not legally responsible". 

If there are any potential investors in factored athlete contracts, pay attention to the words "are not legally responsible".

Consider that the purported NBA/Simmons/Millsap deal was originated in March 2019, only two months after another deal involving Michael Vick originated by Atlantic Solutions and distributed through SMA Hub, began to spiral out of control in January 2019.

If one were to give a reasonable assessment of the situation, from Millsap's affidavit one could say that the SMA Hub was indeed "missing a few buttons" 

Nikia Foster-Vassell is a Georgia notary who was hired and paid by Reliance Funding, LLC, a Bethesda firm which is the successor-in-interest to disgraced structured settlement factoring company Access Funding [Note the Reliance Funding LLC Better Business Bureau listing cites Access Funding, LLC as an alternative name at time of this posting]. Nikia Foster-Vasell witnessed Brendan DeAngelo Simmons sign Paul Millsap's name, without his denoting Power of Attorney.  How would any potential investor know that it was not Paul Millsap signing based on the way it was represented by SMA Hub and its advisor network?

SMA Hub represented on its website that was still operating at time this post was published, 

"Only after we have painstakingly scrutinized and thoroughly reviewed each payment stream is it made available to your client to fund and close. SMA Hub’s closing book details every aspect of our procedures and your client’s transaction".  Hmm!

Nikia Foster-Vassell claimed in her November 5, 2021, answer to the New York investor Complaint, that " Reliance Funding LLC out of Bethesda MD, is the company that contracted Vassell on 15th of March 2019 to conduct the Simmons signing, Prior to signing, Simmons noted and provided a POA (power of attorney) advising that he has designatory rights to sign on behalf of Paul Milsap(sic) because he was his legal agent and uncle".  As a notary, Vassell said, she "couldn't attest to the validity of the document, only verify the dates/names are valid along with the identification. Upon advising Simmons to provide the doc to the Signing Company, Reliance Funding LLC, he noted that they were aware, but would contact. Simmons produced two ID's which were sent to Reliance along with docs that Vassell notarized, and Simmons signed".  

Where was the Power of Attorney in the Closing Book?   

To bring new readers up to speed,

• Jundanian and/or his companies originated the purported athlete and/or agent investments and distributed them through NV Partners, LLC dba SMA Hub, with whom Jundanian and/or his companies had a long-standing relationship going back at least until Access Funding.   See Washington Post "In 2018, working through a Bethesda middleman, Vick signed a deal tied to a company based in Oregon: NV Partners. The principals of that firm had for years put together deals between two entities: “Factoring companies,” which gave lump-sum payments to people in exchange for scheduled payments they were to receive from personal injury lawsuits, and investors who wanted to profit from those revenue streams".
• Jundanian and company clearly knew about the risks associated with investment in athlete or agent receivables at the time because there was a $5,000 per day penalty clause in the agreement they originated with Vick, and the $10,000 per day penalty clause in the purported NBA/Simmons/Millsap deal.
• SMA Hub distributed these purported investments directly or through its network of advisors, which in at least one instance included settlement planners.
• SMA Hub's promises of stringent due diligence have come into question more than once. See my post 

  Orders Vacated in Bronx Structured Settlement Cash Now Scam by Convicted Felon | Bad News For Investors

  .

 

 

 

 

Have You Bought Receivables From Basketball, Football or Soccer Player or Agent's Contracts?

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Have you been solicited to invest in receivables alleged to be guaranteed by professional baseball, football, basketball or soccer players, their teams or leagues?  Has the investment performed the way you were sold by promoters of the alleged factored sports contract investment or have you lost money?

Sports fandom is about more than just entertainment. It can boost your self-esteem and make you happier — and you don’t have to root for the winning team to reap the benefits.   Source:  CNBC Corey Steig July 23, 2020

Being a sports fan is a “very psychologically healthy activity,” says Daniel Wann, professor at Murray State University whose research program centers on the psychology of sport fandom. Fandom connects us to other like-minded people, which satisfies our human need for belonging, he says.   Source: Ibid 

Should sports fandom extend to investing in receivables that purport to be from Basketball, Football or Soccer Player or Agent's Contracts?

Healthy skepticism is the fine margin between fandom and "dumbdom"

Healthy skepticism is the fine margin between fandom and "dumbdom". A number of receivables deals originated by Atlantic Solutions, LLC and distributed through NV Partners LLC/SMA Hub/Hub Business Trust have been the subject of lawsuits in the last several years.

• Michael Vick, former Virginia Tech and NFL great who pled guilty in 2007 to involvement in dog fighting and spent 21 months in prison See Washington Post In court, Oregon company claims it made a $400,000 bet on NFL great Michael Vick---and that things haven’t gone well  August 9, 2019 and  Michael Vick agrees to chip away at a nearly $2 million judgment stemming from an unusual financial deal.  November 27, 2020
• Brendrick DeAngelo Simmons Agent for Paul Millsap, an NBA player.

This author is aware of investors still waiting for their money on the Michael Vick deal, although NV Partners/SMA Hub has had a confessed judgment against Vick since July 2019. 

In the Simmons deal, some investors were paid off in settlements of an Arizona lawsuit in October, but investor litigation on multiple other fronts is ongoing.

Are there any other investors out there who have been solicited to buy and/or have bought receivables that are alleged to be originated from and/or guaranteed by professional baseball players, professional soccer players or their teams? 

If so, I 'd like to hear your story. Have things gone the way you were sold by the promoters of the investment? Did the athlete or obligor on your investment pay on time?  If not, was the payment schedule compromised in any way?  Did you ever have to incur legal fees to protect your investment?

What CFPB Needs to Know About Alleged Scam That Targeted Annuity Investors

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

There's a river of unregulated BS swirling around retirement plan investors that looks and smells like an annuity but isn't

Whether a retirement plan investor is targeted for investments in a scam labeled secondary market annuity by settlement planners or other financial advisors, or in this case, a share of receivables purportedly due to an agent by a current NBA player that were factored to Atlantic Solutions LLC, a company run by Lee Jundanian, a Maryland lawyer, and pipelined to investors through SMA Hub/NV Partners and its affiliated advisors (some of whom don't appear to have a complete understanding of what they sold), they need to be more guarded.

Background

• The Ties That Bind | Witness to Millsap's Agent's Signing of Millsap's Name Was Hired by Reliance Funding LLC
• SMA Hub Purchase Order Referred to NBA as an Insurance Carrier
• New York Lawsuit Reveals 7 SMA HUB Purchase Orders That Named NBA as "Insurance Carrier"
• Settlement Reached in Hansen Lawsuit Against Settlement Planners, SMA Hub, NBA Player, Agent et al
• $1.5M Confessed Judgment Against NBA Player & Agent Over SMA Hub "guaranteed" "NBA Annuity"
• Disabled 65 y/o Arizona Man Sues Settlement Planners, SMA Hub and Others in Secondary Market "Annuity" Shit Show
• Michael Vick agrees to chip away at a nearly $2 million judgment stemming from an unusual financial deal

#rohitchopra 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ties That Bind | Notary to Millsap's Agent's Signing of Millsap's Name Hired by Reliance Funding LLC

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

On March 15, 2019,  Georgia Notary Public Nikia Foster-Vassell witnessed Brendrick DeAngelo Simmons sign NBA player Paul Millsap's name to a document that purported to be Paul Millsap's guarantee on a loan to Simmons originated by Atlantic Solutions, LLC.

Structured Settlement Watchdog bangs the boards

Simmons is the uncle and agent of the Brooklyn Nets hoopster, who was playing for the Denver Nuggets in 2019.

Atlantic Solutions, sought out NV Partners LLC d/b/a SMA Hub to find investors.

SMA Hub  positioned the NBA as an insurer in its sales purchase documents, even though the NBA is not an insurance carrier.

At the time the 2019 deal went down, SMA Hub was already reeling from a similar deal involving Former NFL star Michael Vick, also originated by Atlantic Solutions, having obtained a confessed judgment.

The loan was not paid to all investors when due on September 15, 2021 and is the subject of New York litigation brought by investors against multiple parties. Closing documents in the loan show signatures of Lee Jundanian and Raffi Boghosian. As noted in prior posts Jundanian and Boghosian were associated with Access Funding, a despicable entity that targeted and exploited Baltimore's black community which were referred to as  "lead paint virgins". Read the 2016 CFPB Complaint 

________________________________________________________________________________

Update: Boghosian was among a trio convicted in November 2022, of a Theft Scheme involving Lead Paint Victims receiving Structured Settlements

Access Funding's Boghosian and Lawyers Charles E Smith and Anuj Sud Convicted of Theft Scheme - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews (typepad.com)

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Reliance Funding is a limited-liability company engaged in structured settlement factoring and is the successor company to Access Funding

Reliance Funding’s principal place of business is at 6900 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 700, Chevy Chase, Maryland. On October 17, 2015, after being notified of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s investigation through service of a Civil Investigative Demand, Access Funding, through its affiliate Access Holding, sold its assets to Reliance Funding. Reliance Funding is a successor in interest to Access Funding.

See IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE DIVISION CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU, Plaintiff, v.
ACCESS FUNDING, LLC, ACCESS HOLDING, LLC, RELIANCE FUNDING, LLC, LEE JUNDANIAN, RAFFI BOGHOSIAN, MICHAEL BORKOWSKI, and CHARLES SMITH,
Defendants Case No. 1-16-cv-03759-JFM

In her answer to a Complaint filed in a New York lawsuit against her,  Nikia Foster-Vassell  stated that " Reliance Funding LLC out of Bethesda MD, is the company that contracted Vassell on 15th of March 2019 to conduct the Simmons signing,

Prior to signing, Simmons noted and provided a POA (power of attorney) advising that he has designatory rights to sign on behalf of Paul Milsap(sic) because he was his legal agent and uncle".  As a notary, Vassell said,  she "couldn't attest to the validity of the document, only verify the dates/names are valid  along with the identification. Upon advising Simmons to provide the doc to the Signing Company, Reliance Funding LLC, he noted that they were aware, but would contact. Simmons produced two ID's which were sent to Reliance along with docs that Vassell notarized and Simmons signed".  

Read Vassell's answer here posted 11/5/2021 with the Nassau County Clerk

Download 612659_2021_General_and_Vascular_S_v_General_and_Vascular_S_ANSWER_73

As you can see by reviewing Vassell's answer, Snapdocs billed Reliance Funding (not Atlantic Solutions) for $90 for what was noted as " Structured Settlement Purchase and Assignment Agreement". The expense was marked as approved by Zak Thompson. In 2018, Zak Thompson was the Reliance Funding shmuck who earned himself incredibly bad press in the Washington Post and a mugshot, after he used his employer's skip trace service to dig up and disseminate personal information for a Montgomery County cop who Thompson's friend proceeded to harass over a $50 traffic ticket. You cant make this stuff up.  See  MD Factoring Company Employee Gave Skip Trace Info On Cop to "Bro" Who Then Harassed Cop Over $50 Ticket"

Never a structured settlement. never an annuity, NBA not an insurer, Questions raised over "guarantee by Millsap" used to induce investors

Of course the Simmons/Millsap deal was never a structured settlement, never an annuity as that term is defined under the insurance laws of New York, Maryland and other states where investors were targeted by SMA Hub, the NBA was not an insurer and there have been questions raised over whether or not Millsap actually guaranteed as was advertised.

More than $1.5 million is owed and is almost two months late with daily penalties in the thousands of dollars. according to the New York complaint and a confessed judgment against Simmons and Millsap in Maryland.

Rohit Chopra, while you still have an open file on Reliance and its principals, you might want to nose around some more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Settlement Reached in Hansen Lawsuit vs. Settlement Planners, SMA Hub, NBA Player, Agent et al.

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

A notice of settlement was filed October 15, 2021 in the Pima County Arizona "Secondary Market 'Annuity' Shit Show" lawsuit filed last month and the matter has been placed on the dismissal calendar according to publicly available court records found online

[see Richard J. Hansen, a  single man, and Richard J. Hansen Trust, Plaintiffs v Steffey et al.  AZ. Pima County Case C20214202]. Specific terms of settlement were not available in the online records. For background  see my September 10, 2021 post See Disabled 65 Year old Arizona Man Sues Settlement Planners, SMA Hub and others in Secondary Market 'Annuity' Shit Show"

SMA Hub labelled purchase orders in the closing books sent to investors with the notation "Insurance Carrier NBA". The NBA is not an insurance carrier. In addition to the one in Hansen, the Nassau County suit identified 5 SMA Hub purchase orders so labeled.

Through the Hansen complaint and a lawsuit filed this month in Nassau County New York, with somewhat overlapping subject matter, we discovered that SMA Hub labelled purchase orders in the closing books sent to investors with the notation "Insurance Carrier NBA". The NBA is not an insurance carrier. In a addition to the one in Hansen, the Nassau County suit identified 5 SMA Hub purchase orders so labelled.

NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NASSAU  Index Number 612659/21

General and Vascular Surgery of Long Island, PC Defined Benefits Plan; Smithtown Medical PC Defined Benefits Plan; Smithtown Medical PC; Roth IRA FBO "A.C."; 401(k) FBO
"E.C.", Plaintiffs

vs 

Paul Millsap; Brooklyn NETS Basketball, LLC, an NBA Franchise; Brendrick DeAngelo Simmons; BDS SPORTS, LLP, a Foreign Limited Liability Partnership; Chase Bank; The Denver NUGGETS, an NBA Franchise and a Delaware Corporation; The Denver NUGGETS Limited Partnership, a Delaware Limited Partnership, as owners of the Registered Trade Name Denver NUGGETS; The Denver NUGGETS Corporation; Lee Jundanian; Reliance Funding; Atlantic Solutions LLC; EagleBank; Marc Wertheimer, ESQ.; Jonathan Walker; Tyson Wright; Jannae Palovich; SMA Hub, an Oregon Limited Liability Corporation; HUB BUSINESS TRUST through its Trustee, NV PARTNERS, LLC d/b/a SMA HUB, an Oregon Limited Liability Corporation, Jonathan P. Walker, President/Manager, NV Partners LLC; WESTERN CAPITAL CORPORATION, a Foreign Corporation d/b/a Northwest Bank; Happy State Bank d/b/a GoldStar Trust; GoldStar Trust, a Texas Banking Association; Anthony Martini, Jr., Anthony Martini, Sr., The Estate of Anthony Martini, Sr. (Executor Louis Pittocco, ESQ.); AM CPA; AM & Co.; Retire Smart.Today LLC, Nikia Foster-Vassall, ScanDocs, Inc., Defendants

 

What's The Link Between SMA Hub and Settlement Professionals, Inc? | "Mumm's the Word"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Dylan Mumm was named as a co-Defendant in an Arizona lawsuit filed September 2021, allegations from which arose out of the sale of purported payment streams from an agent of NBA player Paul Millsap, at time of original publication of the Brooklyn Nets, to a disabled man's trust. [Richard J. Hansen, a  single man, and Richard J. Hansen Trust, Plaintiffs v Steffey et al.  AZ. Pima County Case C20214202]   See my prior articles:

• Disabled 65 y/o Arizona Man Sues Settlement Planners, SMA Hub and Others in Secondary Market "Annuity" Shit Show September 10, 2021
• SMA Hub Purchase Order Referred to NBA as an Insurance Carrier  September 21, 2021
• The Ties That Bind | Witness to Millsap's Agent's Signing of Millsap's Name Was Hired by Reliance Funding LLC - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews (typepad.com) November 8, 2021

According to his LinkedIn profile (retrieved October 1, 2021)

• Dylan Mumm is VP of Business Development for SMA Hub from January 2016-Presen
  

  Are there any standards or has it devolved into "any fish you wish"?
  t, located in Denver, Colorado
• Dylan Mumm is a Financial Specialist with Settlement Professionals, Inc. from March 2012 to Present, located in Denver Colorado  Download (4) Dylan Mumm _ LinkedIn SMA Hub Settlement Professionals Inc retrieved 10-1-2021

According to Smart Asset Advisor Match Dylan Mumm, at time of original publication in 2021, was a financial advisor at Settlement Capital Advisors, a firm founded by Jack Meligan, a settlement planner from Lake Oswego Oregon who was the founding President of the Society of Settlement Planners LLC.  [ Retrieved October 1, 2021]

Dylan Whitmore Mumm is the son of the late Michele Whitmore, a settlement planner formerly of Delta Settlements and Settlement Professionals, Inc. and one of the founding members and a former director of the Society of Settlement Planners, who died November 4, 2020. 

[ Source: Pueblo Chieftan December 9, 2020 and Legacy.com]

At the time of original posting in 2021 and continuously through 2024, Dylan Mumm has been listed as a MEMBER of the Society of Settlement Planners as part of SMA Hub, with an SMA Hub email address.  Download Search the SSP Membership Directory - Society of Settlement Planners Dylan Mumm  Oh boy. Three members of the Society of Settlement Planners were Defendants in the Hansen Lawsuit. 

Sometime after this was posted Dylan Mumm's LinkedIn entries for his times at now defunct SMA Hub and Settlement Professionals,Inc. (not defunct),were altered to show SPI 2014-2018 and SMA Hub 2016-2021. The question is why? Despite the alternations, there is an overlap between being part of Jack Meligan's firm and SMA Hub, a now defunct firm that was an intermediary of questionnable structured settlement receivables such as receivables from Access Funding trasactions, including and odd ball investment disasters like the Simmons deal and the Michael Vick receivable deals. 

Download Dylan Mumm - Vice President of Planning.. edited SMA Hub and SPI Experience (Retrieved 3/2024)

How was having a company, or a member associated with a company, whose acronym "SMA" represents a scam label for factored structured settlement receivables, which are not annuities, and have no statutory protections, consistent with mission of the Society of the Settlement Planners?

Last updated March 14, 2024

 

SMA Hub Purchase Order Referred to NBA as an Insurance Carrier

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

SMA Hub refers to the NBA as an insurance carrier in Purchase Order Given to Investor. It is not

The following SMA Hub purchase order speaks for itself. 

The image was provided to the Structured Settlement Watchdog by an investor. The HUB Business Trust Number displayed in the image R031519R-2-1-1 in the investor's deal has a common in root to the Hansen Business' Trust, a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against SMA Hub and others, including settlement planners Dean Steffey and Kathleen Blevins in Arizona Superior Court September 3, 2021.  The number on the SMA Hub purchase order in that case was R031519R-5.

How many other investors received statements from SMA Hub, like the one in this image referencing the NBA  (or NFL. the case of a Michael Vick deal) as "insurance carrier"?

If you have received something like this or any communications from SMA Hub referring to cash flows derived from NBA contracts, NFL contracts or structured settlements as an annuity or an insurance product I'd like to hear from you.

The NBA is not an insurance carrier

SMA Hub Solicited Me to Buy Structured Settlement Derivatives Scam Labeled Annuities

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

SMA Hub solicited me to invest in a structured settlement derivative by email to today with the subject line "Annuities".

Neither SMA Hub, nor Trent Douglass, the individual whose email address at SMA Hub was associated with the solicitation are licensed to sell annuities or life insurance in Connecticut.  Verify here. 

Neither SMA Hub nor,Trent Douglass, the individual whose email address at SMA Hub was associated with the solicitation, are licensed to sell annuities or life insurance in Oregon.  Verify here. 

SMA HUB and other companies offer scam label structured settlement derivative investment products to investors, intentionally misrepresenting them as annuities when they are not annuities. What is notable about today's email from SMA Hub's Trent Douglass. addressed to a CT resident, is that SMA Hub is brazen enough to even remove the secondary market prefix.

SMA Hub Solicits Sale of Derivatives Scam Labeled Annuities in Mass Mailing

 Structured settlement derivatives are structured settlement payment rights not annuities.  At the end of a structured settlement factoring transaction, no investor is an owner of the structured settlement  annuity or annuities funding a periodic payment obligation from a lawsuit settlement.  The investor simply DOES NOT acquire an annuity.

The Lake Oswego Oregon company's email was sent out by Mail Chimp, a marketing automation platform and an email marketing service, begging the question about how many investors were targeted by SMA Hub with the scam labeled investment solicitation.   If you have received a similar email from SMA Hub I'd be interested in hearing from you.

For more information see why a secondary market annuity is not an annuity

Postscript

4 years after receiving the communication, SMA Hub is out of business. Caput.