Litigation

Seneca One Cash Now Pushers Take Liberty With Term "Annuity Specialist"

Posted on July 21, 2009
The war against "cash now pusher" and "financial crack" dealer misleading use of insurance terms in advertising continues. Today's bugaboo is about Seneca One's use of the term " annuity specialist" The Certified Annuity Specialist designation is issued by the...

AM Best Rates John Hancock Life A+ (Superior)

Posted on July 20, 2009
AM Best announced today that Manulife and its subsidiaries, which include structured settlement annuity issuer, John Hancock Life Insurance Company have been rated A+ (Superior) with a stable outlook. The company was formerly rated A++. The AM Best announcement leaves...

Structured Settlement Annuitants. Don't let John Ryan "judo chop" your financial plan!

Posted on July 20, 2009
Six Sigma Master Black Belt John Ryan, President and Chief Operating Officer of Stone Street Capital seems to encourage people to sell their structured settlements at deep discounts to buy Real Estate which he states is discounted. He says on...

Cajun's Perpective on Structured Settlement Factoring Realistic

Posted on July 19, 2009
Want settlement cash now? Not So fast!" a piece by NOLA based freelance writer Craig Guilot appearing on Bankrate.com, presents one of the first realistic posts on the subject from an "independent writer". The following message is crystal clear and...

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Rhonda Bentzen, Bentzen Funding Solutions "in Bed" With THESE Folks, AND Your Structured Settlement Broker?

Posted on July 19, 2009
Ever checked into a hotel room and get the heebie jeebies wondering who previously occupied the room, slept on the bed, used the remote or drooled on the same bedspread? Well that's feeling I'm getting about this. The Alabama structured...

Beer Sheva Isn't Exactly The Hot Bed of Structured Settlement Information

Posted on July 18, 2009
Big Noise from "The Holy Land"! Ohad Raz has created THE STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS blog (emphasizing the block capitals). The thing is that it contains very little credible information about structured settlements. In my opinion a more appropriate name for the...

Eight Structured Settlement Consultants Explain It "Like Its 1999"

Posted on July 17, 2009
On May 11, 1999 Hartford Life Insurance Company produced a series of useful brochures designed to help appointed structured settlement brokers compare structured settlmeent annuities to various alternatives such as Treasury Securities, Bank Trusts, CDs,, Variable Annuities and the like...

Press Bashes Social Security, Just Like AIG, Over $700,000 AZ Conference

Posted on July 16, 2009
Emmy award winning reporter Josh Bernstein has picked up where Bill Hemmer left off, sensationalist bashing what the media has perceived as excesses in the use of taxpayer dollars. In lieu of AIG's "hot stone massages", this inane sensationalism includes...

Notre Dame Asked For Position on CSSC Representations About Association With School-2

Posted on July 15, 2009
For the benefit of the NSSTA Board of Directors and membership as well as the Administration of the University of Notre Dame and those who have actually earned diplomas there, we are pleased to post comments from NSSTA members and...

Notre Dame Responds to CSSC Promotion Concerns

Posted on July 15, 2009
This author received the following response to his letter to University of Notre Dame concerning the manner in which NSSTA members who are CSSC designees are promoting their association with the school. In his response, Paul Slaggert, Director of Non-Degree...

7 MONTHS=CASH NOW? Another Story About Bentzen Funding and ANOTHER 7 MONTHS of Delays

Posted on July 14, 2009
In a developing story (the details of which we hope to bring you shortly) apparently another structured settlement annuitant who chose to do business with Bentzen Funding Solutions and was met with delays in funding of nearly 7 months, and...

How Easy It Is To Kill Spam Comments on Your Blog

Posted on July 14, 2009
Those who make spam comments are generally looking for cheap advertising. Spam comments typically take the form of flattering fake compliments and then include a link to the commenter's website. That link MAY count as a valid back link that...

Notre Dame Asked For Position on CSSC Representations About Association With The School

Posted on July 14, 2009
This author has written the following letter to the University of Notre Dame Download Letter to University of Notre Dame concerning CSSC. The letter is necessitated by the mischaracterization by many CSSC designees as set forth in yesterday's blog post...

The Irony Of Voices Coming Out of Two Heads Of the Hydra-1

Posted on July 13, 2009
"Banks, stockbrokers, and other financial planners cannot set up structured settlements. Only authorized structured settlement consultants like those through MTSS can establish your structured settlement" From the brochure Structures 101- Mass Tort Settlement Services, an IFS Company BUT, since you...

Was NSSTA Asleep at Switch on "CSSC" mark?

Posted on July 13, 2009
The National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) has been offering the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant for almost 15 years in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame. The NSSTA and the 550 or so members and designation holders...

Structured Settlement Brokers Who's Your "Puff Daddy"?

Posted on July 13, 2009
"Obviously, the structured settlement broker with access to the most life companies will be in a position to offer a very competitive annuity price". Ringler Associates website July 13, 2009 The implication is that the company has access to the...

Certified Structured Settlement Consultants Blowing Hot Air About Credentials

Posted on July 12, 2009
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. On July 12, 2009 on the NSSTA website it...

Structured Annuity Issuers and Assignees Stand The Test Of Time- Best Review July 2009

Posted on July 11, 2009
Best's Review has published "Standing the Test of Time" its annual report of insurance companies that have demonstrated their financial strength for half a century or more. The report published in its July 2009 issue includes both property and casualty...

Barney's "Legs" No Trouble For Business Of Life Insurance

Posted on July 10, 2009
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced legislation (H.R. 3126) as part of the Obama financial services reform blueprint by creating the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Like the draft legislative language that the Administration previously released, H...

Stone Street Capital "Milwit" Hoists Self and Company On Mutually Exclusive Petard

Posted on July 10, 2009
Gary MIlwit is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Stone Street Capital, LLC. In a July 1st post on the Stone Street Capital Blog "What You Can Expect From Stone Street Capital When You Sell Your...

Structured Settlement Brokers Cut Deals With Wire Houses But Can't Herd The Cats-1

Posted on July 09, 2009
A number of structured settlement general agencies have cut commission sharing deals with wire houses as a business strategy. They know who they are and so do we. One can presume that the idea is to be the focal point...

How Much Should You Say In Online Social Networks That Include Business Contacts?

Posted on July 09, 2009
More and more people are using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn with work contacts. For some it's a way to show a different side of yourself than "all business" and can be very effective. Personally I enjoy...

IRS Offers Advice on Disability Exception to Pre- 59 1/2 Distribution Penalty from IRA

Posted on July 08, 2009
In May 2009 the IRS has issued Chief Counsel advice 200922041 which offers guidance on the meaning of "disabled" as it relates to IRC 72(m)(7), the disability exception to the 10%, pre 59 1/2 distribution penalties from IRAs and annuities...

S2KM Wikis Cumbersome and Unnattractive In Design and Rarely If Ever Updated As Promised

Posted on July 08, 2009
A Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal...

"Crazy Eddie" Resurfaces in Lake Oswego?

Posted on July 08, 2009
Back in the 1980s Crazy Eddie's was a retailer famous for its "Christmas in August" sales. The Settlement Professionals July 8, 2009 blog still posts its "End of Year Message" featuring Jack Meligan and a bunch of very snowy trees....

Structured Settlements-What Is She Really Saying?

Posted on July 07, 2009
Ever read a sentence that starts out correct and then turns into a steaming pile, but if you didn't read it entirely you might have a different impression? One of my competitors, whose professional success I have a great deal...

Toomre Capital Markets "Declined Opportunity" to Work With JG Wentworth, "Not Surprised" By Bankruptcy

Posted on July 07, 2009
The sarcasm drips from Lars Toomre's June 8, 2009 post about the JG Wentworth bankruptcy filing. He says: "Many individuals and firms have long avoided the structured settlement sector of the financial markets, particularly on the purchase side of the...

EPS Settlements Makes Corporate Statement on Factoring

Posted on July 07, 2009
"We understand that there may be legitimate instances where a structured settlement recipient has experienced life altering circumstances resulting in a hardship situation that must be addressed. As a company, we have concerns over the ethics and professionalism of unauthorized...

Some Say Credit Default Swaps Should Be Regulated As Insurance

Posted on July 07, 2009
"Credit default swaps nearly brought down the world financial system last fall when it was discovered that AIG Financial Products had written hundreds of billions of dollars worth of credit protection without setting aside sufficient reserves. Yet since then, pathetically...

Chicago Writer Out of "The Loop" In Business.Com "Guide To Structured Settlements"

Posted on July 07, 2009
Chicago SEO hack Matt Alderton states one reason that structured settlements can benefit plaintiffs and defendants in injury cases: "If you're injured, having a claim paid to you in periodic payments via a structured settlement, rather than in one large...

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