Litigation

Heartless 123 Lump Sum Strings Along Homeless NYC Woman

Posted on December 14, 2009
I just got off the phone with a woman who turned to us after suffering the indignity of a string of unfulfilled promises and poor communication from Structured Asset Funding, a/k/a 123 Lump Sum. The woman, whose name I know...

Structured Settlement Website Rankings December 2009 ( including USA only stats)

Posted on December 14, 2009
Three Month Trailing Top 10 Global Traffic Rank (Alexa Rank as of 12/14/2009) of Structured Settlement and Settlement Planning Industry websites* (+ or- traffic from 11/18/2009 report). Lower number means more traffic (e.g. Google.com is ranked 1 in the overall...

Unglued Bentzen Continues to Avoid Important Questions

Posted on December 12, 2009
Is there anyone who gets more wound up about my blogging than Rhonda Bentzen? Bentzen, a former structured settlement broker who went (by her own written admission) to the "dark side", is a structured settlement factoring broker, formerly the "go...

Rhonda Bentzen Chickens Out on Response to Structured Asset Funding Complaints

Posted on December 10, 2009
Given the opportunity to address the important issue of the funding company to which she professed all the structured settlement factoring deals referred to her (by her structured settlment industry broker clients) go, Rhonda Bentzen has failed miserably...

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SEC Opens "The Rockford Files" , Thwarts Another "Structured Settlement Funding" Ponzi Scheme

Posted on December 10, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission says in a December 8, 2009 press release that Rockford Funding Group LLC used cold calling and a Web site to raise at least $11 million from more than 200 investors in 41 different states...

NSSTA on Factoring Business Practices: Calling Attention Is Not Enough

Posted on December 09, 2009
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...

Qualified Settlement Planning : What is it?

Posted on December 08, 2009
What is Qualified Settlement Planning (QSP)? Its acronym sounds like that "Quazy Energy Cereal" from Quaker Oats. Does "qualified" refer to some special academic qualifications as the name also suggests? If so, what are they? Does it refer to a...

Leading Structured Settlement and Settlement Planning Websites Experience Record Traffic

Posted on December 07, 2009
The three leading structured settlement/settlement planning subject matter websites have experienced record USA only traffic rankings of late from Alexa, the search engine owned by Amazon.com. Structured Settlements 4Real 115,852* Speaking of Settlements 118,153 4structures...

Two Texas Structured Settlement Companies "Can't Get Lard Unless They Boil The Hog"

Posted on December 06, 2009
I know that some of my Texas colleagues in the industry would like us to think they're smart but man this example makes 'em out to be "as sharp as a mashed potato". In my January 2, 2009 post Structured...

Patrick Hindert Update on Structured Settlement Securitizations-1

Posted on December 06, 2009
The Executive Director of Forge Consulting subsidiary The Settlement Services Group (TSSG) has produced the first in a series of posts about structured settlement securitizations on the S2KM blog. That is only part of the story. What is the most...

US Treasury Bond Trust Structured Settlements...The OTHER Qualified Funding Asset

Posted on December 05, 2009
You may not be aware that a structured settlement need not only be funded with an annuity. The Internal Revenue Code makes a provision for more than one type of qualified funding asset, to wit: IRC 130 (d) Qualified funding...

Stone Street "Statue" is Bust

Posted on December 05, 2009
Apparently malapropism is not confined to the structured settlement industry and its New York legion. Now it's the "cash now pushers" forging their way at word butchery. Stone Street Capital deserves the Venus De Milo for informing us that there...

Settlement Planner's "Cut And Paste" is Showing

Posted on December 04, 2009
It was all rather silly when you were 7 or 8 years old and were taunted by friends that "you're epidermis is showing". Fast forward a few years and I've got to do it, in another way to "Silly Billy"...

House Passes Estate Tax Reform Bill and It's Good News!

Posted on December 03, 2009
The House passed H.R. 4154, which would: permanently freeze the estate tax exemption at $3.5 million, the estate tax rate at 45%, and preserve the step up in basis The bill passed by a vote of 225-200, with no Republicans...

Structured Settlement Planning and Settlement Consulting

Posted on December 03, 2009
What is Settlement Planning and Settlement Consulting?

Constructive Receipt Doctrine and Structured Settlements

Posted on December 03, 2009
If you would like to read more on the subject... Structured Settlements and the Big Mediation MIstake September 29, 2009 Structured Attorney Fees 101 and Constructive Receipt October 17, 2009 Structured Settlement Tips For Lawyers Constructive Receipt in Wikipedia

Structured Settlement Internal Rate of Return

Posted on December 03, 2009
Structured Settlements Rate of Return More on issues related Structured Settlement Internal Rate of Return (IRR) click here

John Darer's Rant on "Cash Now Pushers"!

Posted on December 03, 2009

Structured Settlement Factoring: Is There Truth In Advertising Re Attempted Transfers of United States Government Owned Structured Annuities

Posted on December 02, 2009
One of my readers writes "I know you are a staunch advocate of truth in advertising in your industry. I believe... the factoring companies have learned not to attempt to factor U.S.-owned annuity payments, but I never see a disclaimer...

Jamie Hanson's Financial Illiteracy Lesson on Structured Settlement Annuity

Posted on December 02, 2009
"If you were in legal proceedings to be awarded a settlement, you may have heard certain terms thrown around, and one of them was probably structured settlement annuity . This is just another term for a structured settlement payment, which...

Factoring Companies Keep Trying But Can't Breach Uncle Sam's Structured Settlements

Posted on December 02, 2009
What part of "NO CAN DO" with structured settlements owned by the United States do factoring companies not understand? There is already a body of appellate decisions throughout the country which demonstrates this foundation. Spinning whatever response that can be...

Scott Rothstein Arrested. Criminal Complaint Contains NOTHING About Structured Settlements BOO YAH!

Posted on December 01, 2009
Following is the Scott Rothstein charging document. As you can see there is no place in the Scott Rothstein charging document that refers to "structured settlements". And that's that! Scott Rothstein Charging Document Perhaps Kendall Coffey and the others who...

Which PLAINTIFF EXCLUSIVE Structured Settlement Firm Has People Who CURRENTLY Do Defense Work?

Posted on September 30, 2009
If there's one thing that is disingenuous in the structured settlement industry it's those "righteous" people whose moral compass allows them to CHOOSE to advertise with a straight face that they are "plaintiff exclusive", intending that to mean something, while...

Sins of Omission and Comission in the Settlement Industry

Posted on September 30, 2009
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...

Structured Settlements and The Big Mediation Mistake

Posted on September 29, 2009
We've all been there, a long exhaustive day of mediation ends up with a settlement and the next thing you know everyone of tired mind is scrambling to cobble together a mediation agreement or perhaps the mediator has his/her own...

The Hartford Announces New CEO

Posted on September 29, 2009
One hopes for the sake of its policyholders that Liam McGee brings the luck of the Irish to The Hartford. Ireland born McGee was tapped as the new CEO of 199 year old Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., which has...

"Statistically 90% of lump sum settlements are gone IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS" Say New York Settlement Consultants

Posted on September 29, 2009
Eat your heart out Jeremy Babener! The Lien Resolution Group says on its web site** that "statistically 90% of lump sum settlements are gone in less than TWO YEARS". WOW, NO... NO... I Mean WOW! Forget The Rutter Group and...

Use of Qualified Settlement Fund Will Mitigate Factoring Problem...NYU Law Student

Posted on September 28, 2009
The purpose of this post is to focus on the 8th wonder. NO, NOT THE"Old School classic " by The Sugarhill Gang I'm "wondering" about S2KM's incredible 8TH POST about their putative "Elvis Presley" of structured settlements, NY Law School...

NASP Code of Ethics National Association of Settlement Purchasers

Posted on September 28, 2009
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 actually has a code of ethics As stated therein, The NASP Code of...

"This is deceit, plain and simple" Say Legal Recruiters

Posted on September 28, 2009
One of our watchdog projects for this year has been to clean up the credential puffery and resume omissions or truth stretching (on LInkedIn) that has gone on for far too long in the settlement industry. While reading the ABA...

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