Litigation

A Number of Structured Settlement Industry Websites Continue to Skirt New York Insurance Law

Posted on May 13, 2009
Should one question how seriously some structured settlement agencies take New York Insurance Law? Structured settlement agencies who have been operating in New York state for years typically operate a website directed at New York residents that includes a list...

"MetLife Has Adequate Capital To Sustain Further Deterioration in The Economy"-CEO

Posted on May 13, 2009
The following may be helpful with MetLife structured settlements or those considering them. On April 13, 2009 MetLife announced that it had elected NOT to participate in the US Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In a May 7, 2009...

Higher Taxes...They're Coming!

Posted on May 12, 2009
The Obama administration seeks to raise nearly $60 billion by closing loopholes according to various news reports on May 11, 2009. These potential loophole closings have a potentially significant impact on settlement industry stakeholders . "Another Loophole closing?" The tax...

NEW IRS Private Letter Ruling May Answer Important Questions About Structured Settlement Commutations And/Or Factoring by Assignment Companies

Posted on May 07, 2009
In issuing a Private Letter Ruling, the IRS seems to have resolved trouble about commutations that was stirred up in Christmas past by a Dec 2006 published legal opinion that was purportedly done at the behest of the factoring industry....

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Frank Desaille of St. Albans UK is No Structured Settlement Expert is Adsense Structured Settlement Carpet Bomber

Posted on May 06, 2009
Shafiq Kamal. the owner of the made for Adsense website Knowreally.com and Frank Desaille, the primary author have teamed up to flood the Internet with more digitial diarrhea about structured settlements. Desaille deserves the Wall of Shame for his poorly...

Challenging Peachtree Settlement Funding's "Unparalleled Level of Professionalism"

Posted on May 06, 2009
Cash Now Pusher Peachtree Settlement Funding says: "Our Peachtree team is dedicated to learning about your unique situation, and tailoring your lump sum payment to meet your needs. Our access to funding will ensure that you get access to your...

S2KM Blog Traffic Analysis Tells A Story

Posted on May 05, 2009
One should not be surprised that according to Alexa, the majority of the search terms driving traffic to Beyond Structured Settlements, Patrick Hindert's S2KMBlog, have to do with factoring and really are "beyond structured settlements". Such terms includes: JG Wentworth,...

I'm Afraid "Iz-zo"

Posted on May 04, 2009
Mary Lynn Izzo, whose boundless enthusiasm touched so many of us who worked with her in the structured settlement industry over the years, has lost her long battle with cancer. Whether you encountered Mary Lynn during her time at Confederation...

Will April Showers Bring May Flowers? Hartford "Taking Measures to Stabilize Ratings... Preserve Capital"-CEO

Posted on May 01, 2009
Greetings from London. The Hartford reported "showers" on Thursday, with a $1.2B loss for Q1 2009. Today's Hartford Courant, citing The Hartford CEO Ramani Ayer, "The financial markets remain difficult and the outlook for the economy is uncertain"In light of...

"Lawyers In Dallas" Structured Settlements For "The Estoned"

Posted on April 30, 2009
Here I was all excited after getting the Google news alert announcing Lawyers in Dallas "a New Blog on Structured Settlements and The Secondary Market". Then I discovered through a WHOIS search that the site's owner is Kalev Kompus (Kalev...

United States (Bank) of America

Posted on April 30, 2009
Fox Business says April 30, 2009, commenting on the government's putative conversion of $95B in preferred stakes in Bank of America and Citigroup to common shares: "Do any of you agree that all of this government borrowing will vacuum up...

Pingo Pango Ponzo Who Wants To End Up With Zero?

Posted on April 29, 2009
The Ponzi scheme du jour involves Danny Pang who allegedly defrauded investors in life insurance policies (life settlements/viatical settlements). These have nothing to do with structured settlements although it's bound to come up in the search results thanks to some...

"NSSTA Has Softened Its View Of Factoring" -Patrick Hindert Report To SSP April 28 2009

Posted on April 28, 2009
According to our sources who attended, author and NSSTA legal committee member stated that "NSSTA has softened its view of factoring" during his presentation at the Society of Settlement Planners meeting in Washington DC yesterday. I wonder what that means...

123 Lump Bum

Posted on April 28, 2009
The factoring company Structured Asset Funding, with common ownership to Bentzen Funding Solutions, that Bentzen Funding Solutions used to fund the "Connecticut woman's" factoring deal through has a stinky egg on its face. On the company website for its DBA,...

Questions To Ask About "Questions To Ask Your Structured Setllement Broker"

Posted on April 25, 2009
Appearing among the tips in a text link ad filled Google alert for structured settlements today: "#1. Are you a member of NSSTA? The National Structured Settlements Trade Association is a reputable regulatory body within this industry. A broker who...

The Hartford Puts P&C Business on The Block -Reuters

Posted on April 24, 2009
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reports today that "Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is trying to sell its property/ casualty insurance business, said Thursday, as the U.S. insurer reels from massive losses. Hartford has retained Goldman Sachs, which...

AIG Structured Settlement Wiki by S2KM Has Not Been Maintained and Value Must Be Questioned

Posted on April 24, 2009
The AIG Structured Settlement Wiki was produced by S2KM Patrick Hindert in the third week of September 2008 and maintained through November 2008. When a person spends an inordinate amount of time talking the wikis as S2KM Patrick Hindert does...

Most Popular Structured Settlement Websites April 2009

Posted on April 23, 2009
Three Month Trailing Top 10 Traffic Rank (Alexa Rank as of 04/23/2009) of Structured Settlement and Settlement Planning Industry websites* (+ or- traffic from 03/24/2009 report). Lower number means more traffic (e.g. Google.com is ranked 1 in the overall scheme)...

Structured Asset Funding Pays Connecticut Woman FINALLY!

Posted on April 23, 2009
Late Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis was right, sunlight IS the best disinfectant or, in this case, motivator to pay up as promised. Structured Settlements 4Real has confirmed that the Connecticut woman who was apparently strung along for weeks by...

Serious Questions Concerning Factoring Company "Servicing"of Structured Settlements

Posted on April 22, 2009
Factoring Company Servicing of structured settlement payments. It's time to get it all out on the table before one of the big servicers goes belly up and someone has to learn the hard way. Please read my previous post on...

Bentzen Funding Solutions STILL HASN'T PAID Connecticut Woman as Promised! Update

Posted on April 22, 2009
Supposedly "Emergency Credit Meetings" are going on involving Bentzen Funding Solutions, Structured Asset Funding and their bankers to be able to pay what was promised to the Connecticut woman (who related to this author this morning that she has now...

Selling Structured Settlements "Tempting But Not Smart" -Suze Orman

Posted on April 22, 2009
Financial guru Suze Orman responds to a woman who along with her husband is contemplating the sale of the husband's remaining structured settlement payments with the the advice that such transactions are "tempting but not smart". O, the Oprah magazine...

Credit Default Swaps and Your Insurance Company

Posted on April 21, 2009
Credit default swaps are financial contracts that "insure" against the default of financial instruments such as bonds and corporate debt which are also traded as a hedge against bond defaults. Credit default swaps played a major role in the credit...

Bentzen Funding Solutions... Connecticut Woman STILL HAS NOT BEEN PAID As Promised?

Posted on April 21, 2009
Structured Settlements 4Real is rallying around a Connecticut Woman's cause for Bentzen Funding Solutions and Structured Asset Funding to make good on their promises. On April 14, 2009 we posted the story, "Bentzen Funding Solutions Not Paying for Factoring Deals...

Fairfund Financial Misleading Consumers AGAIN!

Posted on April 21, 2009
Back in December 2006 cash now pusher Fairfund Financial Group was the subject of this blog post Fairfund Financial Goose Egg for false advertising. Now these knuckleheads are asking the question "So what should people do that have structured settlements...

FDIC Assessments... News About Treasury and Regulatory Concern About Collateral Damage is Instructive

Posted on April 20, 2009
Bloomberg reports today that "the U.S. Treasury and financial regulators are clashing with each other over how to disclose results from the stress tests of 19 U.S. banks, with some officials concerned at potential damage to weaker institutions. With a...

S2 Knowledge Management Expert...Half Acid Washed Denham

Posted on April 20, 2009
Out of date information is of little use unless you are a historian, or perhaps a detective trying to solve a cyber crime. This author has observed alot of detritus on structured settlements floating around like space junk. One such...

Buffoonery May Result From Salesmen Who Don't Read

Posted on April 20, 2009
The March 2009 NSSTA newsletter, The Structure, featured the President's message with a slap at Halpern Group entitled Halpern's "Superior Results". The slap says that sometimes "truth is stranger than fiction" and goes on to mock the 17% loss that...

Failure to Think Things Through

Posted on April 19, 2009
What is former NSSTA President Patrick Hindert smoking for implying that Treasury should deny Hartford TARP funds because of a legal case that has not yet been decided, Spencer v Hartford? Hindert asks: "Should federal officials consider Spencer v. Hartford...

Student Loan Debt Questions for 19-26 Year Olds, Alternatives to "Cash Now"

Posted on April 19, 2009
Are you 19-26 years old with a structured settlement that was set up when you were a child and now have mountains of student loan debt? Are you the parent of a 19-26 years old with a structured settlement that...

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