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

Fast Cash Now BUT "No Specific Date On Which Funding Will Take Place"

Structured Asset Funding recently responded to a consumer complaint by stating

"Pursuant to her contractual documents, this seller has (now) been paid. It should be noted that there is no specific date on which the funding shall take place"

But the false advertisers still say:

"A national leader in providing fast cash now service from structured settlements".

When will this company start telling the truth in its advertising?

 

 

Settlement Professionals Got a "Big Ole BUT"... States Rebating As 2009 Fact Using 2002 Evidence

One of my industry colleagues, Settlement Professionals, has a "BIG OLE BUT"

Check it out!

"What’s in it for the Casualty Companies and Self-Insured Corporations? MONEY! Money in the form of direct rebates and kickbacks. Look here to read a letter that reveals the names of the Defense-Loyal Structured Settlement Brokerage Firms that engage in rebating, and the shocking admission that those firms make up 70% of the total industry!"  Settlement Professionals, Inc.** website posting a 2002 letter from a major insurer about a large strctured settlement firm.

The "BIG OLE BUT" is how does Settlement Professionals justify use of a letter dated June 25, 2002 to support its very serious allegations of rebating in 2009?

The fact is that four of the companies listed in the letter don't even exist today. Is this the best that Settlement Professionals can do?

In another "rumpshaker", Settlement Professionals "gesticulates" with almost 6 year old memo (see "Standard Pre-Settlement Conference Intelligence Almost 6 years old" my post of November 12, 2009).

Settlement Professionals is challenged to prove its allegations as the present (i.e 2009)

This author opines that the company CANNOT PROVE that such activity takes place with all of the companies named, and/or to the extent described. By continuing to do so isn't Settlement Professionals is engaging in false advertising simply to gain a competitive advantage? The specific use of the two out of date pieces is tied to Settlement Professionals explanation of "how it limits attorney liability". 

It is worthwhile for plaintiffs and their attorneys to consult with a competent settlement planner

It's another thing to present as facts what are known by the advertiser to be incorrect in soliciting new business.

If Settlement  Professionals cannot prove its allegations currently then it should either remove the posting or qualify the support of its allegation.

If it continues to post allegations that it cannot prove in the present, then Settlement Professionals damages the structured settlement industry and in my opinion, demeans the settlement planning industry by implying things it cannot prove currently. The industries deserve far better than that. Note that Rule 11(a) of the Standards of Professional Conduct for Settlement Planners, posted on the Society of Settlement Planners website, entitled "Marketing of Settlement Planning Services", states " A settlement planner shall not make false or misleading statements about the planner, the services the planner is offering, the planner's compensation, or other matters related to settlement planning"

I
**Oregon office

Postscript: Sometime following this posting, Settlement Professionals did remove the link to the subject letter.

NSSTA on Factoring Business Practices: Calling Attention Is Not Enough

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) is FINALLY getting into the public discussion of factoring business practices. 

The NSSTA posted a video featuring US Senator Richard Durbin that was recorded earlier this year to counter the expected annual holiday season "flea market" for structured settlement payments created by some of the seedier cash now pushers.

The video presented is primarily about pay day loans, which were cited by Durbin to have interest rates as high as 358%. He says they should be outlawed. I agree. I have to say however, that I am a little bit embarrassed as an NSSTA member for the unintended "trompe d'oeil" in the presentation that accompanies the video of Durbin's speech:

"After citing examples of interest rates as high as 358 percent charged by pay-day loan operators, Sen. Durbin declared that such practices should be outlawed. "The same is true when it comes to factoring [of structured settlements]," he said. "There are just certain practices we shouldn’t be afraid to say are wrong."

The implication is that factoring rates are in that sort of range. I don't believe that this is what the Senator intended to imply because it is simply not true even in the worst factoring cases.  Discount rates should be fair. Some factoring companies, however, do have ethical business practices and should not be lumped in with the reprobates.

Without enumerating NSSTA states "many of the nation's leading disability rights groups, including the American Association of People with Disabilities and the National Organization on Disability, have publicly called attention to the questionable practices of these factoring firms".

NSSTA goes on to say "Forty-seven states and the federal government have enacted structured settlement protection statutes that establish strict conditions for structured settlement factoring transactions. Under the federal law, court oversight and approval is required for anyone who chooses to sell payments from a structured settlement to a third-party company".

All true, but rhetoric and the structured settlement protection acts only go so far, in my opinion.

How about publicly highlighting specific practices that need greater oversight?

Top of the list in my opinion is:

Cash now advertising. The FTC needs to get involved and punish companies which continue to advertise "Fast Cash Now" despite a number of complaints which call that very claim into question. If companies continue to do so because of lack of or unenforced regulation then something has to change. Irony of ironies the NSSTA post has already been tagged by a website called Cash For Structured Settlement.

Including in the above should be some recourse against unlicensed individuals and website hosts, including e-zines that make money off misinformation peppered about by the unlicensed, unqualified individuals who shun accuracy for the quest of pay per click profit.

 

Where "Fast Cash Now" Apparently Means The Speed of a Tortoise

  by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

 The "fan mail" is pouring in for Structured Asset Funding.... 

"I would highly recommend not doing business with this company. Three months after my money has been promised to me (after 9 months of court and notarized paperwork), I still have not seen a single dime, and am facing imminent foreclosure. Answers are not satisfactory. It's always "We're just waiting for the bank to release the funds." How hard is it to write a check? I am very aggravated at the entire process and regret my decision wholeheartedly".-words of Rachel P.  from just a few days ago on 10/30/2009 on the Better Business Bureau, website feedback for Structured Asset Funding, LLC.

Food for thought:

1. These are the same people that took 6 months to pay "The Connecticut Woman" in a deal referred by NSSTA member Ron Sullivan of Bradford Settlements to be funded by Structured Asset Funding, LLC. A copy of the Connecticut court record is in the possession of the author.
2. These are the same people who advertise "fast cash now".
3. These are the same people who imply in their advertising that it is wise to sell your structured settlement to buy a boat or Ferrari.
4. Structured Asset Funding also acts as a "servicing company" for factoring deals where the annuitant has not sold all of their structured settlement payment rights.

Most people can't afford to wait THAT long!

 

Oregon Law Seems to Preclude Use of CSSC in Advertising by Settlement Consultants

by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC RSP CLTC

The new rule concerning new standards to protect consumers from misleading and fraudulent marketing practices took affect on November 1, 2009.

Section 836-080-0160 of Trade Practice rules from the Insurance Division of the State of Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services entitled "Use of Certifications or Professional Designations by Insurance Producers", seems to eliminates the legal use of the CSSC in the State of Oregon.

The prohibition specifically applies to

1. Use of a designation that does not have reasonable standards or procedures for monitoring and disciplining its designees or certificants for improper or unethical conduct   see OAS 836-080-0160 (e)(C)
2. Use of a designation that does not have reasonable continuing education see OAS 836-080-0160 (e)(D)

While it is this author's understanding that NSSTA is working on a mandatory continuing education for the program, such program is not currently in place.

The fact that one or more CSSC designees advertised to be "plaintiff exclusive" while concurrently, on more than one occasion, also attesting to the United States Department of Justice, under penalty of perjury,  to have provided for the 3 previous consecutive years substantial services to defendants and their counsel. NSSTA did not discipline the designee(s) in question for the obvious duplicity (evident the mutual exclusivity of the statements).

The fact multiple CSSC designee members of the association, including a board members misrepresent the designation and are neither monitored nor disciplined by the association which confers the designation.

Gaming Search Engines...Can You Improve Your Web Ranking With Real Sounding But Fake Stories Linking To Your Website?

A website called Florida website marketing.com claims it can turn your website into a money maker. What they do is nothing new. You, the business owner, pay this company, or any one just like it a certain sum of money and they have writers to create stories, that appear to be true (but may not be) and toss them up on their blog network with links back to your website.

This is how they game the search engines, making it even harder for consumers to find legitimate information on a subject. How legitimate can the information be for $10 paid per post? In some cases it may be at the expense of a competitor who has actually written their own content.

This sort of strategy is what gave us the "Organic Lab Rat" from a Ipoh, Malaysia (see below link), shilling for Stone Street Capital, writing about her "friend that had a structured settlement" who turned to a factoring company for cash.

The Florida website marketing .com list as its success story how it wrote 10 stories (made up?) for $100 (i.e. $10 a post) for Bonita Springs Florida personal injury attorney David Hughes Harris.

With these pay per post "fantasies" it seems every one of the writers of these stories just so happens to have an uncle or friend that had an accident or tale of woe and decided to use the "linked to" business. David Hughes Harris' Google rankings for "Bonita Springs injury attorney" purportedly went from 44 to 2 in a matter of weeks. Download SEO2.-David Hughes Harris PA

David Hughes Harris appears to be just one of MANY people who patronize vendors who attempt to game the search engines in this way. But is it ethical? In my opinion it is not.  Don't we have truth in advertising laws? Would David Hughes Harris sink his claws into a product manufacturer who advertised that a product could do something based on "made up" testimonials or stories that his clients relied on in their purchase decision?  In the insurance and securities industries there are specific rules concerning testimonials.

• In my opinion those that game the search engines with made up stories deserve to be exposed for what they are doing. 
• In my opinion those who knowingly patronize those who game the search engines deserve to be exposed for what they are doing.

The irony of all of this is that David Hughes Harris' SEO company is soliciting people with the message that:

"There is too much "fluff" in search engine optimization work. We have decided to apply the "Sams Club" no frills, no nonsense approach to SEO". 

Some of David Hughes Harris' Bonita Springs injury attorney competitors who should be raising an eye brow since their Google rankiongs are affected by the strategy employed by the folks hired by David Hughes Harris.

• Parker Waichman Alosno
• James L. O'Leary Law Office
• Wood Atter and Wolf PA
• Carol Vlachos

Further reading

FTC Set To Tighten Rules on Paid Testimonials on The Internet  June 21, 2009

FTC To Clamp Down On Dubious Product Statements in Social Media April 3, 2009

"Organic Lab Rat" from Malaysia Now Shilling For Stone Street Capital March 28, 2008

Stone Street Capital Shill Jason J. Noble's Got More Than One Creation "Out of Tune"  May 6, 2008