Litigation

One of the young turks in the factoring industry has emerged as a thought leader. Some of the current NASP leadership should sit up and take notice of suggestions  by Andrew Cravenho, of Settlement Quotes, LLC to improve the factoring industry.

1. Improved education for tort victims before they need to factor structured settlement payments.
2. Stricter advertising regulations for structured settlement factoring companies.
3. Better leadership from the NASP (National Association of Settlement Purchasers)
4. Development of the NASP website.
5. Increased presence of the NASP.
6. Regulations justifying structured settlement broker commissions in factoring transactions.
7. Regulations to penalize factoring companies for not completing a transaction in xx weeks payed (sic) to the tort victim.
8. Licensing for all structured settlement factoring companies.
9. Standardized caps on structured settlement factoring discount rates.
10. Better communication between the primary and secondary markets.

Comments

1. Members of the structured settlement industry and potential regulators should make note that one of factoring's own IS in favor of professional licensure and stricter advertising regulation for structured settlement factoring companies.
2. I would like to see a neutral Seller's Guide to Structured Settlement Factoring be produced and required by regulation to be distributed on initial solicitation or at least with contract forms. Such a guide would be parallel in nature and purpose to the Life Insurance Buyer's Guide that is required in the life insurance sales process in many jurisdictions.
3. No doubt number 9 could be an issue for the likes of opportunists such as Peachtree Settlement Funding (NASP's second largest member) who have heretofore had the reputation of only doing deals with discount rates in the high teens.
4. Members of NSSTA and SSP should encourage and support these efforts.
5. With respect to number 6, I think regulations concerning disclosure of any compensation to anyone as a result of the structured settlement factoring transaction would be apropos. This would prevent a disclosure of payments to one firm who then pays undisclosed kickbacks to another firm. The consumer should know who is getting paid, how it affects their discount rate and the amount of money that ultimately gets into their pocket.
6. I encourage other members of the factoring industry to respond publicly to Cravenho's suggestions. Those factoring companies not in favor of professional licensure and advertising regulation, when the secondary market for life insurance (which many of these same companies participate in) IS so regulated, should explain why to regulators and the public.
7. The structured settlement and factoring industries should consider a pan industry task force that pools efforts to hunt down and thwart owners of "scraper" "made for Google Adsense websites" that steal content from either industry's member websites and then misinform the public.