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

CSSC ... Something Else To "Carp" About

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

NSSTA Board member James E. Logan of Detroit and other settlement industry credential puffers MAY not yet fully appreciate the subtleties of the confusion they create by not appropriately associating the professional certification with the National Structured Settlement Trade Association, on their websites and/or marketing materials. Given the following October 14, 2009 news story about the "CSSC" from just across Lake Michigan, perhaps Mr. Logan and others will be encouraged to make a distinction.

The story from The Great Lakes United:

"As invasive Asian carp bear down on the electrical barrier operating in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) in Illinois, environmental and conservation groups are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take emergency action to stop the threat now and to look at the separation of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes as a permanent solution.

The CSSC is a man-made waterway that connects Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River basin. Originally intended as a means for the city of Chicago to overcome sewage problems in the early 20th century, it created an artificial connection through which aquatic invasive species can pass in both directions. The electric barrier is located near Romeoville, Illinois on the CSSC. A new DNA monitoring technique being used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame, found that invasive Asian carp are a mere mile from the electric barrier in the CSSC".

Stop "Pervasive" Credential Puffers from Wreaking Havoc on the the NSSTA CSSC professional certification!

Settlement Consultants Who Flout NSSTA Guidelines for Promoting the CSSC 

 

Sins of Omission and Comission in the Settlement Industry

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

This author is aware of a structured settlement firm whose members routinely use a small excerpt of a published document to compete with another firm. The complete published document puts the small excerpt into context but the offensive structured settlement firm in question chooses to omit those material facts for its own financial gain. It's an embarrassment to the integrity of the industry.

There is nothing wrong with competition. Complete comparisons however, are the order of the day.

This author intends to expose the firm in question in due course but will hold off approximately 30 days in the hopes that the firm in question reads this blog or this blog is pointed in their direction by someone else in the industry and they reconsider this behavior.

It is possible that there is more than one firm that uses the same published document in the same manner as the firm that is the subject of this post.

NASP Code of Ethics National Association of Settlement Purchasers

by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP

According to material contained in a Symetra Life Ins. Co. v. Rapid Settlements, Ltd., --- F.Supp. ---, 2009 WL 2252248, *3 (S.D. Tex. July 28, 2009),  NASP has a code of ethics

As stated therein, The NASP Code of Ethics requires adherence to the SSPAs and to federal law. It
provides:

A) Members shall follow and adhere to all state and federal
statutory law applicable to the transfer of structured
settlement payments;
B) Members shall not purchase structured settlement payments
unless the transaction has been approved in advance by a
court or administrative agency;
C) Members shall not knowingly purchase worker’s
compensation payments or broker such transactions to a nonmember.

It's a pity that many members of NASP apparently choose to interpret the words "federal law" to mean only law embodied in IRC 5891.

The FEDERAL truth in advertising laws are clear and some NASP members lie about their ability to deliver what they promise in their advertising, particularly with respect to the ad nauseum, "Cash Now". Why is it so hard for people to tell the truth?

Thanks to the secondary law blog for alerting us to this incomplete  "code of ethics"

Woodbridge Investments Purveyors of Bad Structured Settlement Information AGAIN!

Blindly taking financial advice from a "cash now pusher" is usually not a good idea, particularly one that is dangling trendy baubles in front of your eyes hoping that you will be gullible enough to do business. Woodbridge Investments falls into this category and has been a long term denizen of our wall of shame.

Woodbridge Get Your Money Today

Comment: We all know that ain't happening! A Court approval is required for a structured settlement factoring transaction. If Woodbridge is referring to a token or nominal "cash advance" that it may pay then this is grossly misleading. Ultimately the time it takes to complete the paperwork, assemble the required documents and comply with requirements of the structured settlement protection act in your state determines "when you will get your money".

Woodbridge The plaintiff has a great deal of flexibility in setting up the initial terms of the award, but after that there are no changes possible to the agreement as it is worked out.  Essentially, your money comes to you on someone else’s timeline.

Comment: Holy non sequiturs Batman!  Who do you think works out the settlement agreement? The plaintiff has input on the terms of the structured settlement (which by the way IS NOT an award-it is a compromise) which is fully customizable. Then all of a sudden it's "on someone else's timeline". C'mon!

Woodbridge In discussing the reasons to sell Woodbridge states "If you are struggling to get out from under credit card debt, if you are falling behind on ballooning payments on a "predatory mortgage"

Comment: 
Talk about the hyena calling the zebra pink!

Woodbridge  Selling your structured settlement payments for a lump sum of cash is entirely your decision to make.

Comment: In the majority of states there is a structured settlement protection act wherein a judge is the final arbiter of whether or not selling your structured settlement payments for a lump sum of cash is in your best interest. Such court approval is also necessary for cash now pushers like Woodbridge Investments and/or their funding source to avoid an onerous 40% excise tax levied pursuant to IRC 5891.

Woodbridge  Woodbridge Structured Funding, LLC is a direct funder.  We work directly with the banks and insurance companies to fund your transaction.

Comment: Are they really a direct funder? Perhaps some of the annuitants that were affected by last year's Woodbridge alleged attempted substitution of Rapid Settlements (at a higher price) when Bank of the Internet could not fund the transactions Woodbridge promised could come forward. Did those deals ever get funded?

Eight Structured Settlement Consultants Explain Structures "Like Its 1999"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Why do 8 structured settlement firms that are run by intelligent respected businesspeople, including some of the industry's biggest producers, lawyers, former NSSTA Presidents, continue to post an outdated comparison on their websites to be used in the solicitation of insurance? What gives?

On May 11, 1999 Hartford Life Insurance Company produced a series of useful brochures designed to help appointed structured settlement brokers compare structured settlement annuities to various alternatives such as Treasury Securities, Bank Trusts, CDs,, Variable Annuities and the like.

Ten Years Later...

On July 17, 2009 at least 8 structured settlement consultant firms are still using the Hartford Life pieces, sometimes with attribution (and other times without attribution). One firm has made some modification, but the majority explain it exactly as if it was May 11, 1999, before anyone got to "Party Zero-Zero".

In each of the 8 companies' published comparisons with CDs, the 8 firms consistently misstate the limits of FDIC coverage as $100,000 when, thanks to measures taken during the 2008-2009 financial crisis it is $250,000 as we sit here today.

Forgot to Leave the TIPS

In each of the 8 company's published comparison's to "Treasury Securities" they flub by stating that Treasury Securities do not keep up with inflation. "TIPS" are "treasury securities"

 " On May 1996, the Treasury announced its intention to offer a new type of investment date book entry security with a nominal interest rate linked to the inflation rate on prices or wages...INFLATION PROTECTION securities"  Treasury Direct website news archive September 25, 1996.

Flub a Dub Dub

Moreover, the "flubbers" are consistent in being incomplete on the tax consequences of treasuries. As IRC 130(d) clearly states obligations of the United States government are a permissible "qualified funding asset". Once again let us underscore that TIPS were available well before the date that the Hartford marketing piece was produced and subsequently bastardized.

In the same comparison, 7 out of 8 companies failed to recognize the secondary market for structured settlements at the same time as discussing the secondary market of treasury securities. As all of these firms should know structured settlement payment rights can be factored subject to the conditons in IRC 5891 and applicable state law. Kudos to Huver & Associates for getting this part right.

Let's do a better job of checking accuracy and relevancy!

 

 

Certified Structured Settlement Consultants Should Be Clear About The Credential

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Certified Structured Settlement Consultant is a professional designation offered by the National Structured Settlements Trade Association to its members through the Executive program at the University of Notre Dame since 1994. Begining in October 2022, the first CSSC class was held at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

Despite the honorable intent of National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA) in creating the designation and many of those who have earned it and repeated notice provided here in this forum since 2007, some designees continue to misrepresent the credentials in a way that could mislead tort victims, judges, attorneys and other stakeholders. The question is "why?"

To set the record straight concerning the Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) professional designation:

1. NSSTA hosted its program at University of Notre Dame and currently hosts the program at UNiveristy of Texas at Austin. It did not involve matriculation at the University of Notre Dame and does not involve matriculation at University of Texas at Austion. Other professional designations such as CLU and ChFC do involve matriculation.
2. The prestigious school located in South Bend, Indiana is referred to as University of Notre Dame, NOT Notre Dame University as some have referred to it.
   
3. The CSSC IS NOT a degree program. It IS NOT an Executive MBA program.The NSSTA is listed as an "Executive Education Client" of the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business while the program was hosted there.
   
4. It DOES involve 4 days of classroom sessions and a proctored exam, The word "professional certification program" is what is used by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association in the CSSC brochure on its website
   
5. It DOES represent a fundamental body of knowledge that one must possess to be successful  in the structured settlement industry.
   
6. Being a CSSC and being licensed in all 50 states DOES NOT give you virtually unparalleled expertise. Over 600 people have earned the designation however, and it DOES set you apart from others who are not in the structured settlement field and others in it with less practical experience

Once you decouple the CSSC designation from the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) for marketing purposes I believe that you are crossing the line into misrepresentation. Remember it is NSSTA who states clearly "IN CONJUNCTION WITH". Should one surmise from the behavior of certain members (otherwise intelligent business people) that they seek the prestige and imprimatur of University of Notre Dame, for 4 days and about $3,000?  As the proponents of the designation and having published a code of ethics to hold out to the public, what is NSSTA doing? The CSSC program includes an ethics component. As part of that component is the NSSTA doing enough to educate those upon whom they confer the designation on how to use the designation?

4 Days in The Vicinity of Touchdown Jesus Does Not Make You One of The Fighting Irish  October 2007.
Some Certified Structured Settlements Shamelessly Puff Their Credentials January 2009

Fairfield Funding States That "Chain Of Brokers Will Take Cut of YOUR money!"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Fairfield Funding, a structured settlement factoring company, implies that the kick back to structured settlement broker model from a "decent factoring company" may not be as good for plaintiffs as some have advertised.

We know what 5% of the industry does not do, but very little about what the remaining 95% do (since few appear willing to disclose their factoring activity) 

"Cash Now Pusher" Fairfield Funding (a division of APIS) states on its website that  "WE ARE A DIRECT FUNDER, and because of this we avoid the chain of brokers that will take their cut of YOUR money".

Are some structured settlement brokers skimming off their own client's structured settlement factoring deals, not just random annuitants off the street (as if there's something redeeming about that)?

 

Cash Now Pushers Not Paying Yet Continuing to Advertise "Cash Now?"

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Settlement Quotes, LLC's Andrew Cravenho's  February 24, 2009 post will be of interest to Attorneys General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Cravenho describes several recent instances consumers have written to him describing a process from structured settlement transfer companies JG Wentworth, Stone Street Capital and Seneca One that is anything but cash now.

That these cash now pushers (and many of their industry brethren) have the balls to continue to mislead the American consumer with cash now advertising knowing that there are cases like these out there is just the type of thing that the Federal truth in advertising laws were meant for.

Cash Now Question Should Go To Federal Trade Commission

The focal point of the cash now advertising fraud is the where the cash NOW emphasis is placed. Is the cash NOW emphasis placed on what the consumer needs versus the advertiser's promise and ability to deliver what they advertise?

I don't think there's any question that a consumer could be in a situation where they need cash NOW. When the consumer needs cash NOW, or perceives that he or she needs cash NOW don't they need it at once, today or yesterday? Otherwise why wouldn't they think I need cash tomorrow or I need cash in 90 days?  Cash NOW implies immediately or "at once" as is in the dictionary definition.

Looking at some examples of the use of NOW...

When your mother said to spit the gum out NOW, did she mean in 60 days?  When your mother said stop hitting your sibling NOW, did she mean you could continue whaling on him for a few more minutes? When the teacher said to hand in your test NOW, did she mean you could take it home and  let the dog eat it?  When on the way home from the party at 1am you get pulled over and  the policeman barks "step out of the car NOW and put your hands on the hood" (after you've been speeding at 80mph and weaving all over the road) does that mean when let's wait until the sun rises?

The cash now pusher's defense of the practice tends to be a weak  "depends on on what you mean by cash now". Most concede that even though they say "cash now" they cannot deliver "cash now" as the advertising would lead any person reading or watching the advertising to expect.  After they get 'em in the door with the false cash NOW claim some say they make the disclosure that it isn't actually delivered NOW. Where's the "fine print" in the advertisement?

If cash now pushers cannot do the right thing up front then there needs to be an "intervention". Shouldn't Cash NOW pushers  be put through their own form of rehab by enforcement action from the Federal Trade Commission.

It is high time for this issue to be escalated to the Federal Trade Commission so the FTC can determine if the advertising is misleading. We're talking about the majority of an industry that practices this abuse. I for one would like a front row seat to see what the FTC thinks about Peachtree Settlement Funding's outrageous claim that they can give you "ALL your money now"(in exchange for your structured settlement payment rights).

Some Certified Structured Settlement Consultants Shamelessly Puff Their Credentials

by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP

Certified Structured Settlement Consultant is a professional designation offered by the National Structured Settlements Trade Association to its members through the Executive program at the University of Notre Dame since 1994.

Despite the honorable intent of National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA) in creating the designation and many of those who have earned it, some designees continue to misrepresent the credentials in a way that could mislead tort victims, judges, attorneys and other stakeholders.

To set the record straight concerning the Certified Structured Settlmeent Consultant (CSSC) professional designation:

1. It DOES NOT involve matriculation at the University of Notre Dame.
2. The prestigious school located in South Bend, Indiana is referred to as University of Notre Dame, NOT Notre Dame University.
   
3. It IS NOT a degree program. It IS NOT an Executive MBA program.
   
4. It DOES involve a 3-4 day course and a proctored exam, The word "course" is what is used by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association in its brochure entitled "Benefits of Membership"
   
5. It DOES represent a fundamental body of knowledge that one must possess to be in the structured settlement industry.
   
6. Being a CSSC and being licensed in all 50 states DOES NOT give you virtually unparalleled expertise. Over 400 people have earned the designation however, and it DOES set you apart from others who are not in the structured settlement field and others in it with less practical experience
   

Here's a selection of some of the Good and the Inaccurate Puffers

Good

• earned the prestigious Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) designation from the National Structured Settlement Trade Association through the University of Notre Dame.
• Completed the Certified Structured Settlements Consultant's (CSSC) course at Notre Dame University.(although university label is inaccurate)
• successfully completed the certification course and exam for structured settlement professionals at Notre Dame University, earning her Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) designation.(again good, but university label is inaccurate)
• earned the CSSC, by NSSTA, via the exec. prog. at Univ. of Notre Dame.
• In 199X, the National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA), in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame, conferred upon XXXXXX the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC), in recognition of his successful completion of course study
• In September 199X, XXXXX attended and completed a course of instruction designed by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and the University of Notre Dame. Upon successful completion of the course, XXXX received the industry designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC)
• he has earned the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, offered by the NSSTA through the University of Notre Dame's executive program
• He also received his designation as a Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) from the National Structured Settlement Association (NSSTA) at the University of Notre Dame.

Inaccurate

• He received his Certified Structured Settlement Consultant designation from the University of Notre Dame Business School
• He has successfully achieved the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant fulfilling the postgraduate requirements at Notre Dame University
• the first Canadian to earn the professional designation, Certified Structured Settlement Consultant from the University of Notre Dame.
• He earned his designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant through the Executive MBA program at the University of Notre Dame
• Obtained his CSSC designation from University of Notre Dame
• Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, University of Notre Dame, 2007
• Five members of our team have received the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) from the University of Notre Dame.
• University of Notre Dame (Certified Structured Settlement Consultant - CSSC)
• XXXX was among the second class at Notre Dame to earn the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC)
• With Certification as a Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) from the University of Notre Dame  and professional licensing in all 50 states, XXX's accreditation and expertise are virtually unparalleled
• One false advertiser call him/herself board certified structured settlement consultant!

It is worthy to note that two sitting  NSSTA Board Members, who should be setting an example fall into the inaccurate column.

To the inevitable few that whinge about why I didn't just pick up the phone and call them:
4 Days in The Vicinity of Touchdown Jesus Does Not Make You One of The Fighting Irish  October 2007.

Do You See Yourself As A Certified False Advertiser December 5, 2007