Litigation

The word from the "dog park" is that Rhonda Bentzen is apparently offering up structured settlement payment rights for purchase to members of the structured settlement industry. The question that LEAPS OUT is how much of a conflict of interest is there for settlement industry operatives to be a buyer, or abetting others to be buyers through Bentzen Financial?

Considering the following:

• Rhonda Bentzen has previously stated in writing that her clientele is "ONLY" composed of "those in the structured settlement community"
  
• Treasurer and Director of the Society of Settlement Planners since May 2010
• Only factoring company or intermediary that is a member of, or permitted to be a member of, the Society of Settlement Planners
• Rhonda Bentzen has issued written communications to settlement industry members representing sellers discouraging them from shopping around. In a commodity driven business like factoring this can be very costly. See bullet point below
  

• Rhonda Bentzen has previously stated in writing that 90% of those people take payoffs that she offers and pays for referrals of annuitants that result in her placing a structured settlement factoring transaction.
• It is irrefutable that any payoff to a seller's side structured settlement broker , settlement planner or any one else reduces the amount that the tort victim receives at a time of desperation.
• Rhonda Bentzen has previously stated in writing that the 90%  payoff figure has receded but has yet not clarified the newer figure. She has blissfully avoided the topic despite being questioned by the structured settlement watchdog numerous times in writing.
• It is irrefutable that Rhonda Bentzen has been the the biggest opponent of and an unsuccessful attempted saboteur of the structured settlement transparency initiative, for reasons unknown.
• The competitiveness of Rhonda Bentzen's quotes have been called into question recently.  In one recent case she was blown way by over 50% on a case referred by a structured settlement broker. The  latter discovery makes one question how much "vig" was built into her quote. On a more recent case she was found to be offering a discount rate in the teens when more competitive rates are available.

Questions

1. If Rhonda Bentzen is offering an opportunity to purchase a structured settlement payment right on a deal that she is factoring or has factored, is it more likely or less likely that the deal involves, or involved, a payoff to another structured settlement broker which has essentially forced the annuitant to sell more of their structured settlement payments than is necessary?
2. If Rhonda Bentzen offers a buyer 25 basis points more on her "used structured annuity lot",  Is it conscionable for a structured settlement broker or settlement planner to purchase structured settlement payment rights directly or indirectly from Bentzen knowing what we know now?
3. Can anyone who has agreed to comply with the Society of Settlement Planners Standards of Professional Conduct ethically participate in any offer to purchase structured settlement payment rights from an annuitant, through Bentzen,  knowing what we know now?
4. Is Rhonda Bentzen offering E&O insurance to those arranging buyers side deals?
5. If the Wall Street Journal's Jason Zweig were to examine the sordid details of this situation, would it have no effect or would it have a deleterious effect on the structured settlement and settlement planning industry, particularly given Rhonda Bentzen's role as a director of the Society of Settlement Planners?