by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Cow Poo is on the menu at Stone Street Capital as it seeks to convince potential customers to collect pennies on the dollar in exchange for the noble act of freeing "cash trapped" in a structured settlement annuity. If not for yourself, do it for the "trapped" Abe Lincolns.
Before selling for pennies on the dollar read this Selling A Structured Settlement in 2023? Get The 411 on Cash Now (4structures.com)
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Some "pennies on the dollar" merchants offer bribes just to induce potential customers with structured settlements to seek quotes from them. Are these financial inducements improper? Should they be illegal as a matter of public policy? Are these financial inducements ethical?
What is a Bribe in this Context?
Bribe "something that serves to induce or influence. e.g. offered the kid a bribe to finish his homework"
Source: Aunt Merriam Webster
Here we are not speaking of inducing Fifi the Frenchie to give a high five by rewarding them with a treat. Fifi is being rerwarded for good behavior. Pennies on the dollar is not a treat or reward for an annuitant's good behavior! It's an inducement to sell an asset at a discount, make a certain financial loss from a siginificant asset, possibly their only significant asset.
Consder this example, where Stone Street Capital, a purchaser of structured settlement payment rights and a member of the JG Wentworth family, offers a $100 inducement just to get you to seek a quote from them. Seen recently...
*This offer is subject to you receiving a quote for the sale of qualifying payments, our verification that you are currently receiving those payments and that they are available for purchase. This offer is not for a loan or advance. The $100 for a quote will be fulfilled in the form of an e-gift card that will be emailed to the email address you provide".
The fine print includes a consent to be contacted by automatic dialers and so on. Oh joy! One more robocaller to pile on to the unabating debt elimination calls, cascading cable tv cacodemons, wretched auto warranty wranglers, the vexatious assemblance of amazon spoofers, pinpricking solar panel peddlers, flabbergasting final expense flipperheads, senior benefits jive turkeys, and government agency spoofers who claim to have the dreaded but completely random "notice in your name".
A Glaring Inequity Exists with the Potential to Distract and Harm Consumers
This type of conduct would be deemed illegal under state insurance laws in New York and Florida (scroll down to see below, especially highlighted language).
But for some reason there is a gaping hole in structured settlement protection laws, where there should be protection for consumers (structured settlement recipients) who rely on structured settlement annuity payments, that is long overdue to be addressed. States such as Louisiana, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota which require the registration of structured settlement transferees should continue to lead the way by clamping down and introduce measures to discourage and eliminate this potentially unhealthy business practice.
Equity is an prominent topic in the national discourse these days. But there's no equity between permissible conduct by structured settlement factoring companies (structured settlement transferees) and those who hold insurance licenses to solicit insurance, including structured settlement annuities. Think about it, a licensed insurance agent (such as one who is a structured settlement broker or settlement planner) with few exceptions, cannot offer to pay someone $100 (or provide a gift card worth $100) as an inducement to request a quote.
New York
Opinion of General Counsel No. 04-08-03 (August 3, 2004) states, in relevant part, that:
Inasmuch as the gift certificate or the [gas] card being offered is not a "keepsake" within the meaning of the statute, but is expected to be used shortly after receipt and then be discarded, it would not fall under the "keepsake" exception of N.Y. Ins. Law § 2324 even if the agency name was placed upon it.
Therefore, despite the low value of the gift card as it is not an article of merchandise it is rather more similar to cash and thus it would not qualify for the exemption and it would be an illegal inducement pursuant to N.Y. Ins. Law § 2324(a) (McKinney Supp. 2005).
Florida
Referral fees – referral fees are either cash or an item given to the source of a referral provided for the referral of a prospective insurance customer. The fees are lawful provided they are given for every referral, not just those that result in insurance sales. Acceptable fees can be paid in cash, with a gift card, merchandise, lottery tickets, etc. There is NO limit on the amount of a cash referral fee or the value of merchandise. For reference, DFS cites section 626.112(8), Florida Statutes.
Marketing/Advertising Gifts – these are items of merchandise given to prospective or current policyholders or to the public that market or advertise a licensee or agency. Acceptable items include coffee mugs, golf balls, golf towels, mouse pads, calendars, etc., and generally include the name of the agent or agency. Cash, gift cards, lottery tickets, etc., are not acceptable advertising gifts. Effective July 1, 2018, new legislation substantially expanded Section 626.9541(1)(m), Florida Statutes, by allowing insurers and agents to give advertising and promotional gifts having a total value of not more than $100 per insured or prospective insured in any calendar year.
Unlawful Inducements – the definition of an unlawful inducement in its simplest terms is to give a prospective customer, existing customer OR ANY OTHER PERSON a “thing of value” in exchange for something of value to the licensee. An example is giving any person or entity cash, a gift card, merchandise, lottery tickets, tickets to a sporting event, etc. in exchange for the ability to produce an insurance quote or sell insurance. If another agent or agency sells the same product for the same price, the consumer may choose to work with the licensee that offers a gift card. According to DFS, the law was created in part to deter unfair competition among licensees. DFS refers licensees to section 626.9541(1)(h) which is titled "Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices defined".
Gaps in Regulation of Structured Settlement Transferees
Why does this longstanding inequity exist?
Given that neither of these states require any sort of licensing or registration of structured settlement transferees, state legislature in these and other states should perhaps address the following two questions:
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by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC
What is Attorney Fee Deferral?
Attorney fee deferral is a financial planning strategy in which a lawyer or law firm's contingency fees are paid over time based on an agreed schedule. Taxes are paid when payments are received.
An attorney fee deferral can be effectuated in a number of ways such as
Why consider attorney fee deferral?
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Recent structured settlement reforms in Maryland can't sweep structured settlement secondary market's dirty laundry under the rug, nor should it.
A woman who was found to be functionally illiterate with a fourth grade reading level after suffering lead paint poisoning was able to sell off her structured settlement payments, primarily to Bethesda based Stone Street Capital, according to a CBS News report which aired on Wednesday April 20, 2016. Her lawyer Saul Kerpelman said to CBS "it was impossible that she was able to read and understand the documents that were given to her . Literally impossible." An admission that the deal should not have happened came from Earl Nesbitt, a Dallas lawyer, who represents Stone Street Capital in Texas and also is of counsel to the National Association of Settlement Purchasers. This deal, and many other secondary market deals throughout the industry..."should never have happened'.
Crystal Linton's case has shades of Mary Alice Rose, the case that preceded the blistering front page Washington Post articles in August 2015 that blew the underbelly of the structured settlement factoring industry wide open, stimulating legislator and judiciary outrage that led to rapid sweeping judicial and legislative change in the way structured settlement factoring transactions are handled in Maryland. Soon more dirty laundry of the structured settlement secondary market was exposed:
The National Association of Settlements Purchasers mouthpieces' credibility is eroding rapidly as their "it's not us it's them" has spectacularly backfired. Most of the bad news has been coming out about members of NASP.
Following the CBS News Report Stone Street Capital's response was to tweet a picture of young John Travolta with the paraphrased caption " I've got bills they're multiplying", the picture from a movie whose title is a ironically descriptive of the dirty laundry in the industry "Grease".
Best John Travolta movie quotes that could be figuratively attributed to, or used in a discussion of the structured settlement secondary market:
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
On February 6, 2015, Claudia M. Miller filed suit against NASP member Stone Street Capital in Leon County Florida in a case styled Claudia M. Miller v Stone Street Capital LLC in which the complaint sounded in "Civil Theft", that got my attention. [ Reference: Leon County Claudia M. Miller v Stone Street Capital LLC Case 15-00315] . Download 2015_CA_000315_COMP_CA_102988855 Claudia M. Miller, an elderly person v Stone Street Capital Complaint I was inspired to research and seek out the information and came across an investigative report video from a Florida NBC News affiliate published February 4, 2016.
According to NBC news reporter David Hodges, Claudia Miller won $4million in the lottery in 2010 and she decided to take an annuity instead of a lump sum. The annuity was scheduled to pay her $200,000 per year, quite a nice "salary". "I wanted to be sure that I had an income," Miller said to NBC.
She subsequently sold some of her payments in a factoring deal that went smoothly. Then in 2013, someone showed up on her farm who was "just happened to be in the area". She says to the reporter that he wanted her to enter a new structured settlement. Since the other deal had gone well, Miller agreed to $500,000 upfront to help pay her taxes. "I explained to the man I'm only going to do one," Miller said. But she got more than she bargained for. She received a letter in 2014 saying she had entered into structured settlements she didn't agree to.
"They said 'Claudia, they did four deals on you not just one. Four deals!'" Miller said. That meant $2.8 million gone. All handed over to a Bethesda, Maryland company by the Florida Lottery. "It was like they took a knife, cut me open and jerked my guts out," Miller said
According to the NBC report, Claudia M. Miller's Naples FL attorney Ian Northon, alleged that "once they received her signature they used it over and over again to manipulate the court system," . "They used a Xerox machine, took a signature that was valid to another agreement, put a new one on top and submitted it to the court."
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SIDEBAR: Before I continue, I want to straighten out the mis-characterization of the term "structured settlement" to describe factoring a lottery or structured settlement payment. What Claudia Miller initially entered into to was a factoring transaction or transfer of lottery periodic payments rights. The reason that consumers and even the press at times is confused about the term is because of years of false advertising by the factoring industry over the years. When news of jailed Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein's Ponzi Scheme broke in late 2009, the South Florida press and a former US attorney mislabeled pre-settlement financing "structured settlements".
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Like structured settlement factoring transaction, by law, every structured settlement involving lottery money must be approved by a judge. Lottery winners however, are required to have an attorney and tax adviser.
But Miller never had an attorney. While several court documents show an Indiana attorney as representing her, that lawyer denies even knowing who she is, according to the NBC news investigative report.
Ian Northon believes someone randomly chose that attorney's name to push the structured settlement through the court.
According to NBC, emails obtained by NBC2 also show the Florida Lottery waived Miller's required hearing after only emailing the attorney for the structured settlement company (Stone Street Capital) and never emailing Claudia Miller herself.
"The Florida Lottery is supposed to keep an eye on that and make sure the statue is being complied with," Northon said.
"Had they picked up the phone at any point along the way and called the lottery winner, (or had her appear in Court as recent structured settlement reforms and proposed reforms in several states require) had they called and said 'Is this what you're trying to do?' they would've known that it wasn't."
When reached for comment on February 8, 2016, Miller's attorney would only state that the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the parties.
Something is definitely awry.
Here are two HUGE problems exposed by the Miller case that Florida legislators need to address in general. In fact this is a HUGE WARNING to ALL state legislators about the structured settlement protection acts and lottery protection acts.
Another major issue
If in fact the lawyer photo copied the Claudia M. Miller's signature then what is happening to that lawyer? That a lawyer might fro whatever reason, forge legal documents is certainly plausible on recent information that is in the public domain. There is precedent in the State of Florida for a sleazy lawyer to work (have worked) for factoring companies, notably former Miami attorney Jose Manuel Camacho, Jr. who had been retained by NASP members Novation Funding LLC, Liberty Settlement Funding, CBC Settlement Funding, Annuity Transfers Ltd and others, who has been a charged with (and who admitted to) forging over 100 structured settlement transfer documents using the names of 7 Broward County judges and who was arrested in October 2015. If in fact Stone Street's attorney in the Miller lottery case created the alleged documents with alleged phony replica signatures then it would cast more aspersion on the credibility of structured settlement factoring documents all over the USA. A New York paralegal, Thomas Rubino who worked for the New York personal injury law firm of Paris & Chaikin which coincidentally also was retained by NASP member Stone Street Capital, as well as JG Wentworth, as well as non-NASP member Woodbridge Structured Funding, admitted to forging the names of 76 judges on 234 transfer orders. according to published reports. How widespread is this phonus balonus?
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
While employed at the New York personal injury firm of Paris & Chaikin from July 2010 to October 2013, Thomas Rubino forged the signatures of 76 New York state judges on structured settlement transfer orders as part of a total of 234 counts of forgery on 117 falsified orders and other documents. The story which the industry has known about for 2 years, made the front page of the New York Post with the headline "Law and Forger" (see below). In addition to its personal injury practice, Paris & Chaikin represented settlement purchasers, such as JG Wentworth, Woodbridge Structured Funding and Stone Street Capital, in the acquisition of structured settlement payment rights from personal injury victims just like its own clients.
Settlement purchasers, mislabeled structured settlement companies in the Statement of Facts accompanying the Rubino indictment, purchase structured settlement payments rights from the structured settlement recipient and then sell them to third parties or thee rights are packaged into securities and sold to institutional investors. The that the New York DA's indictment muddles terms that do not reflect what actually occur, is unfortunate testimony to how far the secondary market through its marketing and false adverting has flourished due to a reckless lack of regulation across the United States.
The indictment, published by the New York Law Journal refers to " structured settlement companies buying annuities from the annuity holder". This is simply inaccurate.
The New York Structured Settlement Protection Act, requires the approval of a justice of the New York State Supreme Court.to ensure that each transfer, each transaction, is in the best interest of the annuitant and applicable dependents.
Thomas Rubino was arrested on September 16, 2015. In his confession he stated that he was at first overseen by Ian Chaikin,but over time he worked on cases without oversight. He summarizes his confession by stating the following: THE FORGED ORDERS OCCURRED BECAUSE OF A COMBINATION OF REASONS:
Rubino says he was:
Despite his confession Rubino pled not guilty.
Lawsuits were filed against Paris & Chaikin in June by Woodbridge, JG Wentworth and Stone Street Capital. 60 emails with forged structured settlement orders provided by Stone Street Capital and 57 emails and one fax with forged structured settlement transfer orders provided by JG Wentworth. It appears from the supporting documents that the fraud against Woodbridge was a lottery case.
For more, please read:
The People of the State of New York against Thomas Rubino Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County Index 3525/2015
Criminal Indictment Against Thomas Rubino Rubino Confession
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Stone Street Capital might not think so, but I think I'm doing them a favor. I showed their tweet that I reported on yesterday, to random passenger on an Amtrak train on which I am riding. I asked him to give his first impression of the $100 bill over a wad of $1 bills which Stone Street used to promote itself yesterday.
First words " a bunch of crooks" "That's like the old Chicago Roll"
Not familiar with the term I found this explanation in the Urban Dictionary:
Chicago Bank Roll
A roll of money, consisting entirely of singles, with the exception of a twenty wrapped around the outside.
I thought he gave me the whole amount, turns out it was a Chicago bank roll.
Stone Streets tweet featured a $100 over $1, and a it was a wad not a roll and thus could be appropriately classified as a waddling "Ben Dover George".
Now, I'm not saying that Stone Street Capital are a bunch of crooks, far from it, but another social media gaffe on choice of images is being called into question. Several months ago I took the mickey out due to a Stone Street ad which appeared to show a man being bitten in half by crocodile, which unwittingly played into the irony of the discount taken by structured settlement buyers and more recently with a tweet featuring a quote from a movie with the title "Taken".
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Who does the social media at Stone Street Capital? A July 23, 2015 tweet shows a fanned out wad of cash (below), featuring a "Ben Franklin" on top and the rest, a wad full of "George". Talk about a "padded bra!" An unwitting metaphor on so many levels.
Does the positioning of the Ben Franklin represent what you REALLY get when you sell your structured settlement? Looks can be deceiving. That large lump sum or big lump sum is not as big as it first seems when you get a hold of it.
The Stone Street Capital tweet unwittingly plays into the irony, "This can be you, and FAST!" Ain't that the truth? You can get a lump sum that is bigger than the amount of your monthly payment today but in the long run you will get less, much less.
In entering into a relationship with any structured settlement buyer, always "look below the surface" because, relatively speaking, what looks like a dollar could turn out to be a wooden nickel.
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Stone Street Capital LLC filed a lawsuit against Manhattan personal injury law firm Paris & Chaikin, PLLC, which it retained to seek court approvals for structured settlement transfers, claiming the firm gave them 76 fake judicial orders. [ see Stone Street Capital, LLC v Paris & Chaikin PLLC, Ian M. Chaikin, Jason Paris and Thomas Rubino New York State Supreme Court New York County Index 652434/2015]
Stone Street Capital, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company operating out of a principal office in Bethesda Maryland, which purchases structured settlement payment rights from annuitants in exchange for a lump-sum payment, which are often mischaracterized throughout the industry as "cash now" in ads. Patricia Laborde, it's Senior VP and Division Counsel, is the President of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP).
Paris & Chaikin is a New York City personal injury law firm which has also appeared on behalf of structured settlement buyers such as Stone Street Capital and JG Wentworth.
The transfer of structured settlement payment rights is subject to the New York Structured Settlement Protection Act and rules set forth in 26 U.S. Code § 5891 Structured Settlement.
Stone Street Capital LLC hired Paris & Chaikin PLLC to file the structured settlement transfer papers in state courts in New York seeking approval of the sales of structured settlement payment on more than 100 files between 2009 and 2013. Thomas Rubino, a paralegal then working at Paris & Chaiken was the point person and the individual who would send the stamped order from the court approving the transfer. Partners Jason Paris & Ian Chaikin were also named defendants in the suit. The law firm was to be paid a flat fee regardless of the outcome.
When it disclosed the problems to the insurance companies, they stopped making payments to Stone Street and institutional investors (in structured settlement payment rights acquired by Stone Street) [ Complaint para 16]
By failing to properly supervise Thomas Rubino, defendants, Stone Street alleges that they “failed to exercise the care, skill and diligence commonly possessed” by the legal profession. Stone Street contends that the Defendants admitted the fraudulent activities of Thomas Rubino, in open court (Complaint para. 20].
In my February 4, 2014 blog Falsified New York Structured Settlement Transfer Orders | Who's To Blame?, I questioned the judicial system and its "enforcement of the amended New York General Obligations Law § 5-1705 tincludes this:
At this hearing, the payee shall attend before the Court unless attendance is excused for good cause.
I stated "I understand that petitions in some of the matters in which transfer orders were falsified were actually filed with Courts in New York state. For those where petitions were filed, why weren't there any hearings noticed or scheduled, or any follow up that would have triggered an investigation that would have stopped this "phoney baloney" stuff?" Not enforcing the law and not having in person hearing is a recipe for helpless victims to get royally screwed, in my opinion".
While it's not unrealistic to expect supervision of paralegals, will discovery prove that in some cases communications were sent directly to the paralegal Mr. Rubino, without an copy to the name partners and defendants?
In late 2014, S2KM also reported an ongoing investigation of these fraudulent transfers were being conducted by the New York State Courts and the New York County District Attorney's Office. Primary and secondary market representatives with whom S2KM has discussed these fraudulent transfers disagree on how they are impacting judicial attitudes toward structured settlement factoring transactions and factoring companies in New York.
J.G. Wentworth filed a similar lawsuit against the Defendants in June 2015 and my sources also say that Woodbridge is also filing suit.
Kevin D. Sczepanski, of the Buffalo and New York City law firm Hodgson Russ, LLP, represents Stone Street in the action filed July 9, 2015.
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by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
" You have a structured settlement or annuity... actually that is our business" chirps the ad for Stone Street Capital on Twitter, featuring Kermit the Frog drinking Lipton tea. The message from Stone Street Capital is perhaps an unintended double entendre that "on the one hand" suggests an attempt to justify the controversial scraping of court records by the structured settlement secondary market.
According to the Muppet Wiki , the late Jim Henson "made the first Kermit from one of his mother's old coats with Ping-Pong balls for his eyes". People who rush to sell their structured settlements could learn from Henson's timeless frugality.
Be more like Kermit and less like Miss Piggy. Preserve your income stream and only consider selling your structured settlement as an alternative, after you explored and exhausted all other options.
Image : Carrienelson1 | Dreamstime.com - Kermit The Frog, The Muppets Photo
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