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Why Is Miami Law Firm Promoting "Cash Now Pusher"?
2008-05-22 00:00:00
Why does the Miami Florida law firm of Gerson and Schwartz , P.A.,a supporter of structured settlements on the one hand, appear to be promoting NATLE endorsed "cash now pusher" Strategic Capital Corporation on its Miami Personal Injury Lawyer blog...
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Florida Structured Settlement Protection Act Stifles Kick Backs to Settleme
2008-05-22 00:00:00
The Florida Structured Settlement Protection Act (Section 626.99296) of the 2007 Florida Statutes at Section (2)(h) defines "independent financial advice" in such a way that puts a crimp in practice of certain of my industry brethren who think it appropriate...
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Structured Settlement Spammers Abusing Google. What Is Google Going To Do A
2008-05-22 00:00:00
Two individuals, Mark Benedict Young and Felicitas Tan are spamming the same articles over and over again on the Internet. Spam Article: Structured Settlement s From Lawsuits Mark Benedict Young May 10, 2008 (posted 3 times) Felicitas Tan May 10, 2008,...
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Life Insurance When You've Got Medical Problems
2008-05-22 00:00:00
Life insurance may be an important element of a settlement plan for personal injury recovery management when recovery involves a minor child or incapacitated adult, particularly if the parents are the primary caregivers. Life insurance can be used to finance...
More About: Life , Medical , Insurance , Problems , Life Insurance

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape! ...
2008-05-22 00:00:00
The immortal words of George Taylor could be uttered today by the structured settlement industry and plaintiff lawyers to structured settlement aper , "cash now pusher" and American flag symbol abuser Patriot Settlement Resources. We have no alternative but to...
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"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape! ...
2008-05-14 07:44:00
The immortal words of George Taylor could be uttered today by the structured settlement industry and plaintiff lawyers to structured settlement aper , "cash now pusher" and American flag symbol abuser Patriot Settlement Resources. We have no alternative but to dishonor these scoundrels with the relevant morphed image of "cash now pusher" and "structured settlement aper". Download patriot_settlement_resources_instant_cash _bs.pdf Structured settlement apers are a case of "monkey see monkey do" but in this case it's not flattering. Patriot Settlement Resources Lie Number 1 Patriot Settlement Resources claims to be a "structured settlement company". It isn't.  No matter how hard these unlicensed fakers try, Patriot is a factoring company. Patriot Settlement Resources Specious Claim They Claim: Get the best instant cash deal around.  Are there any instant cash deals around for structured settlement payment rights? Attor...
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Patrick Hindert Called Out On The Carpet For Specifics
2008-05-13 06:39:00
A few weeks ago I received an interesting call from author and factoring promoter Patrick Hindert, who is a member of both the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) and The Society of Settlement Planners (SSP). He wants to debate. Game on. Hindert told me that he is interested in "growing" the "structured settlement industry" yet he continues to display factoring plumage. Who hasn't been subject to "factoring diarrhea" from Hindert? A survey of Hindert's writings in the last 4 years shows virtually no criticism or opinion of such companies' business practices including, among other things: The  "cash now" advertising fraud on consumers The pervasive deceptive "big for small" lure. The message by some of such companies, like Structured Asset Finance (123 Lump Sum) and others that stable value assets should be transferred (at a large discount) to buy depreciating assets. The methods that some such compan...
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Marketing Spin Doesn't Cover Up The Fact That One Industry is Regulated and
2008-05-11 20:27:00
Cash Now Pusher Stone Street Capital has created a web page to try and position itself as being part of the structured settlement industry. Fakers eventually get exposed and here's an example with the impostor revealing language highlighted in blue.: "Insurance companies have multiple roles in regard to structured settlements. They are often the defendant in a lawsuit, more often they are providing insurance coverage to one of their customers who has been sued. If a case is settled with a structured settlement, the insurance company will either purchase or issue an annuity that will pay the settlement recipient for the predetermined number of years. Settlement terms can range widely, paying recipient for as many as 10 - 40 years or for the remainder of the recipient’s life." Download structured_settlement_market___stone_stre et_capital_05112008.pdf Comments: Cash Now pusher Stone Street Capital incorrectly states that insurance companies are often the defendant in ...
More About: Marketing , Industry , Fact , Cover , Cover-up

NASP President's Company Google Ad Nonsense
2008-05-11 12:24:00
Is there anywhere on the ad below, that appeared in a Google Search for "Structured Settlements GA", that gives any indication that it is a structured settlement factoring company. Despite advertising to the contrary and unless it has changed its business model, Novation Capital DOES NOT deliver structured settlement quotes. It is also not a structured settlement General Agency (GA). Here is the ad (the URL link has been disabled for this post- you can see in the download below) Structured SettlementsAs Seen on TV - Call The Experts800-486-1525 - Free Quotes and MoreDownload novation_cap_offensive_google_ad_5112008. pdf Mr. Shapiro, those crazy outsourcers are at it again! Blame it on the dog! You did such a nice job in helping to validate the "cash now" fraud in your industry, how about continuing to set an example by stopping advertising what you don't do and start advertising what you DO do.
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House Investigation Into Plaintiff Lawyer Kickbacks on Class Action Cases?
2008-05-11 06:58:00
Tulsa settlement planner Robert Risk's February 13th "man of class and grace", disgraced class action lawyer William Lerach, reports to Federal Prison on May 19, 2008 after pleading guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy in conjunction with a class action scheme. Two Republican members of the House of Representatives, John Boehner (R-OH) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) recently suggested that Congress has ignored the steadily unfolding scandal and call for a hearing. "If in fact the crimes committed by Mr. Lerach and his colleagues are an 'industry practice' as Mr. Lerach himself confessed, then the United States Congress is sitting idle while criminal behavior in the trial lawyer industry threatens American jobs and feeds like a parasite on the prosperity of working families" Boehner stated in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) dated May 2, 2008. Are we shortly going to see people start defending the payment of kickbacks as "helping cons...
More About: Action , Lawyer , Investigation , Class

New Tool Helps YOU Take Control and Know When To Tell Peachtree Settlement
2008-05-11 04:30:00
The Structured Settlement Factoring Discount Rate Calculator puts cash strapped structured settlement recipients in control. A structured settlement factoring transaction is the source of cash of last resort for those structured settlement recipients who have exhausted all other options. Unfortunately many tort victims are victimized however, through their own ignorance and laziness, by cash now pushers like Peachtree Settlement Funding and others (click here for the "cash now" pushers list) who opportunistically charge high discount rates, due to a lack of regulation of such companies and perhaps due to the knowlege that a significant percentage of consumers are so desperate that they won't shop (even though better rates can be had elsewhere). While it is hoped that the situation will change in the near future, now there is an easy way for you to take control. There is no need for you to be a victim! Take control NOW! With the Structured Settlement Factoring Discount ...
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What Is A Structured Annuity?
2008-05-11 00:49:00
A structured annuity is a "longevity insurance" product that provides one or more fully customizable payment streams tied to the terms of a settlement agreement and release. Depending on the case, a qualified assignment or a non qualified assignment, Court Order and proof of birth and other requirements may be needed. For examples of structured annuity payment streams please click here A structured annuity is different from a regular annuity. Where a structured annuity is used in the resolution of a personal injury lawsuit for payment of damages under IRC 104(a)(2), or the settlement of a workers compensation claim under IRC 104(a)(1), as part of a structured settlement, the payments received by the payee*** are income tax free. The term structured annuity is commonly used interchangably with the term "structured settlement". Technically the term "structured settlement", which is defined under the Internal Revenue Code *, refers to the form of c...
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NATLE endorsed factoring company, Strategic Capital Added to "Cash Now Push
2008-05-09 14:42:00
It has to be said...The factoring company that has been endorsed by the National Association of Trial Lawyer Executives (NATLE), Strategic Capital , is on the "cash now pusher" list. What an embarassment! Click here for the link to the NATLE web site which highlights this. Here is  one web page Download strategic_capital_corporation_cash_now_qu estion_592008.pdf  which ironically appears next to a tab entitled "consumer protection". Here is another Download strategic_capital_corporation_cash_now_qu estion_592008_no_2.pdf Click here for the link to the webpage where NATLE represents to its members that the program was very thoroughly investigated by the NATLE Affinity Commitee. NATLE now looks foolish for this quote "When this happens, rather than have the plaintiff call one of those “1-800-Get-Your-Money-Now” companies seen on TV, they and their attorney can be assured that they are using a reputable company". That's a direct quote from ...
More About: Company , Cash , Factoring

AIG Posts Q1 Earnings Loss-Putting Things in Perspective for Structured Set
2008-05-09 00:11:00
I received a call today from an attorney who asked me what I thought about today's AIG announcement of its first quarter loss (see below). Let's look back a short while before coming back to May 8th. February 10, 2006  AIG announcement of settlement  with Eliot Spitzer and New York State Insurance Department   (and I received calls like I did today and in the months after 9-11-with press induced fears that life insurance and workers comp exposures from 9-11 would cripple structured settlement annuity insurers)THEN March 17, 2006 Business Insurance states that AIG posted a 6.5% increase in profit despite a drop in net income in the 4th quarter (attributed to the charge for the settlement) May 8, 2008.  American International Group (AIG) reports a $7.81 billion first-quarter loss and announced plans to raise $12.5 billion in new capital. According to the Wall Street Journal. the insurance giant, which has been battered by soured investments on credit-def...
More About: Earnings , Loss , Putting , Things , Posts

Pressman Settlements Inartful Use of "Leverage" Helps Teach A Financial Lit
2008-05-08 22:50:00
One of my pet projects is helping to improve the financial literacy in my part of the world. One of my pet peeves is when "the teachers" sling financial jargon in a sales approach or advertising that on its face contributes or has the potential to contribute to "the illiterati". For example here's what "over 21 years experience in banking, finance and structured settlements" gets you..."We ensure sound fiscal management of funds by leveraging life insurance companies with A+, AM Best rating, or better". So states the advertising claim of Structured Settlement Brokerage firm Pressman Settlements Corporation on how their services benefit attorneys and their clients. According to Wikipedia, the term fiscal refers to government debt, expenditures and revenues, or to finance (particularly financial revenue) in general.  On fiscal policy Investopedia states "Government spending policies that influence macroeconomic conditions. Thes...
More About: Financial , Leverage

Stone Street Capital Slips On Banana Peel with Massachusetts "Do Not Call L
2008-05-06 15:57:00
One of our sources in Massachusetts told me this morning that he received a call from an Audrey Ismael (phonetic spelling) who said she represented Stone Street Capital, a "cash now" pusher. The stated purpose of the call by Ismael was " they wanted to know how the transaction went with his structured settlement". When the caller asked "how did you get my name?" Ismael replied "it's confidential, I really can't tell you that".  To which the source replied "that's interesting because I am on the "Do Not Call list". Chapter 265 of the Acts of 2002, An Act Regulating Telemarketing Solicitation, creates a “Do Not Call” registry within the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.  The law became effective on January 1, 2003 and is found at Chapter 159C of the Massachusetts General Laws.  By signing on to the Do Not Call Registry consumers will be able to stop receiving certain prohibited telepho...
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Stone Street Capital Misinformed Shills Include "The Garden Gossip" and "Tw
2008-05-06 00:53:00
A home based working mother (HBWM) is shilling for "cash now pusher" Stone Street Capital under the moniker of " The Garden Gossip " and " It's Crazy Delicious"-a/k/a twitching tomatoes. In this case the "HWBM" delivers a useless B.M.called "Structured Settlements Needed" enriched with utterly misleading and bogus information that "you can get that structured settlement that you may be interested in from Stone Street Capital". Second B.M. from the Stone Street Capital's Shilling Mama: " I would opt for structured settlements personally (where the word structured settlements are linked to Stone Street Capital's website)". Third B.M. from Stone Street Capital's Shilling Mama: "Take the money and run I say…enjoy it and do what you want with it and let it gain interest in your account as opposed to someone elses". Comments: Shilling Mama obviously has no clue what a structured settlement is. She i...

Structured Settlements ARE Competitive With Bonds
2008-05-05 18:15:00
Structured settlement annuity yields remain competitive to other alternatives, even in cases where there is no lifetime payout. Even if you don't need lifetime income, a fixed income investment may be part of, or may have been recommended to be part of, your portfolio. So let's illustrate a structured settlement in which the payment flows are modeled after a bond held to maturity. Generally the issuer of a bond (usually a government entity or corporation) pays periodic interest to the bondholder until maturity and then, the bondholder receives back the amount invested. Listed below is a comparison of yields on structured annuity simulations of several types of 10, 15 and 20 year bonds and the corresponding yield on the bond that is being simulated. Once again, for this illustration, the bonds are assumed to be held to maturity. 10-year Simulation10 Year U.S. Treasury 3.50% taxable 10 Year AAA tax-exempt municipal 4.01% tax-exempt Structured annuity IRR from A+XV AM Bes...
More About: Bonds , Competitive , Settlements

Structured Settlements Guide Misinformation of The Day
2008-05-05 02:28:00
Serial structured settlement misinformants (a/k/a the authors of Structured Settlements Guide - "the delusional guide to structured settlements") post in the Structured Settlements Guide today, a ditty about loans from "Senior LIfe Settlements". While Patrick Hindert may consider this an "overlapping market", Senior Life Settlements have nothing to do with structured settlements. There is no bridge in the Internal revenue Code under IRC 5891(where the definition of "structured settlement" appears) which deals with senior life settlements.

RSP Designation Mischaracterized AGAIN by Fort Myers Elder Lawyer
2008-05-05 00:19:00
At a time when a number of settlement consultants and elder lawyers are getting to know each other better for the mutual benefit of each other and those they serve it's critical that references to credentialing be accurate. I'm not sure why Fort Myer's Elder law attorney, William T. Edy continues to get his facts wrong on the Registered Settlement Planner Designation (RSP). In a post today on Medicare Trusts on News-Press.Com,  Attorney Edy mischaracterizes which entity designates someone a Registered Settlement Planner and wrongly states the Society of Settlement Planners (SSP). The fact is that, as stated in the overview for the program posted on the Texas Tech University web site, the Registered Settlement Planner Program is a product of collaboration between the Registry of Settlement Planners Board (RSP Board) and Texas Tech University’s Personal Financial Planning Division. There is nothing worse than professionals not getting the facts straight on credentialing...
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Annuitant Dies But Beneficiary Is Dead... What Happens Now?
2008-05-04 19:15:00
"What happens if beneficiary of death benefit on a structured settlement annuity is dead?" came the question. The question highlights why settlement planners, attorneys and plaintiffs must give some serious thought to the designation of beneficiary of structured settlement payments that form part of the recovery of damages. The question suggests that the named beneficiary was an individual (as opposed to a trust,estate or other entity). In many settlement agreenments the contingency is covered by stating that if the named beneficiary is not alive at the time of the annuitant's death, then the remaining guaranteed payments go to the estate of the annuitant. In answer to the simple question, one could make that assumption here. Structured setlement brokers, settlement planners and attorneys for plaintiffs should make it a practice to carefully check the beneficiary designation, as part of their review of settlement documents, to be sure it meets the wishes and/or needs of thei...
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The Road To Structured Settlement "Illiteracy" Via Mark Benedict Young
2008-05-04 18:18:00
Mark Benedict Young can be observed as the most prolific distributor of misinformation about structured settlements at the moment. Those that subscribe to Google alerts on "structured settlements" are subjected to multiple daily alerts containing this misinformation spammer's posts. Personal injury plaintiffs should ignore anything that Mark Benedict Young writes on the subject of structured settlements because much of what he writes is replete with factual inaccuracies and therefore not reliable. Today's "Steaming Pile" from Mark Benedict YoungMark Benedict Young (from the publication "Structured Settlement s From Lawsuits")These settlements are not always made in a single lump sum payment. It is common practice to break up the amount of the settlement in small instalments (sic.), to be paid over a span of many years. SS4R Comments Structured settlements always involve periodic or installment payments. As Mark Benedict Young has already opined ...
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Clients First-IF Clients Really First Why Misinformation?
2008-05-03 07:22:00
Factoring Company "Client First"  is misinforming the public about structured settlements. Here are a few examples Client First Says In Its Glossary (5/2/2008): A qualified assignment agreement is "an assignment of the obligation to make future settlement payments which satisfies the requirements of Internal Revenue Code for tax free treatment of structured settlement payments. Typically the transfer or sale of structured settlement payments is completed using a qualified assignment. Comments: The second sentence is utterly wrong. IRC Section 130 defines qualified assignments The transfer or sale of structured settlement payments is NOT completed using a qualified assignment. Also, add Client First to list of factoring companies who wrongfully mislead consumers by confusing the process of factoring periodic payment rights as "the structured settlement process". Click here for the REAL structured settlement process". The management of Client ...
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"Eggs Benedict Bung"- What an Oeuf!
2008-05-02 19:34:00
Mark Benedict Young ("Eggs Benedict Bung") deserves a runny egg on his face for serving about useless tripe that purports to be about structured settlements called "A Few Things To Know About Structured Settlements from Lawsuits". First Profoundly Ridiculously StatementWhen you win a lawsuit for a large sum of money, the amount paid to you is called a settlement. This could be an out-of-court settlement, where the money is offered to you to drop the lawsuit or it could be a settlement awarded to you by the courts. Comments: If you win a lawsuit for any amount of money it is NOT called a settlement. A settlement is a compromise agreed through "a meeting of the minds" among two or more parties. "Eggs Benedict Bung" clearly has read up on circular definition Courts do not award settlements. In some cases, such as those involving minors, incompetents, or death cases, Courts approve settlements Second Profoundly Ridiculously Statement...

Court Denies "Financial Rape" of Tort Victim By "Cash Now Pusher"
2008-05-02 18:36:00
Hot off the press! An alert southern US judge has denied a petition to sell structured settlement payment rights. The 23 year old tort victim attempted to sell 217 payments (18 years 1 month) of  life contingent payments of $1,000 per month , increasing at 3% annually, from a Pacific Life and Annuity structured settlement scheduled to begin January 1, 2020 to a cash now pusher for $4,000.00. THAT'S NO TYPO FOLKS $282,675.66 in future payments for $4,000.00. Effective discount rate is a "tort victim violating" 25.79% The company which engineered this underwhelming and court denied offer appears on our cash now pushers list  wall of shame. Structured Settlements 4Real intends to post documents when they become available which will reveal the identity of the cash now pusher Incidentally, a competing quote offered her $22,000 for ONLY 140 payments, a discount rate of 11.81% which still leaves $117,908.66 in payments intact. A little shopping makes a huge diffe...
More About: Financial , Cash , Tort , Rape , Pusher

Structured Settlements Do Not Oscillate
2008-03-21 16:49:00
Some apparently uneducated soul has posted a web page which states, in pertinent part, that "Structured settlements are essentially "oscillating" payments "prefabricated" to a consumer as a termination of a individualized trauma lawsuit". Merriam Webster dictionary defines "oscillating" and "prefabricated" as follows: Oscillating- to swing backward and forward like a pendulum; to vary above and below a mean value Prefabricated-to produce artificially, to fabricate the parts at a factory so that construction consists mainly of assembling and uniting standardized parts Comments: Neither of the two terms applies to structured settlements. The word "terminate" is not usually associated with lawsuit. The words "settlement", "dismissal", "withdrawal" and "discontinuance" are. Do your research! Turning out drivel is not the way to earn credibility as a writer. The beauty of wordsmithing may be lost if what you are saying is incorrect.
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Why is JG Wentworth Buying Lunch? DealFlow Media's ASNP Coverage Misses Cru
2008-03-21 00:35:00
DealFlow Media drums up interest in next week's ASNP conference with attorney Frank Johns' rhetorical question " How do you prevent plaintiffs from falling in with a factoring company and undoing everything that you have helped them with?" Johns' answer is a good one, yet a significant point is missed-the question that Johns and other special needs attorneys SHOULD be asking. Specifically "why is JG Wentworth permitted to be a Gold sponsor of this meeting?". The fact the JG Wentworth is seen to be a sponsor of this group undermines its credibilty, in my opinion. You dont see such sponsorships with NAELA, Stetson or Special Needs Alliance.
More About: Buying , Lunch , Coverage

The Okie Pokey
2008-03-20 09:25:00
His admiration for the "grace" of Bill Lerach is STILLthe lead story at "Super Settlement Planning", the pulpit of Structured Settlement Services' Robert Risk II, a structured settlement broker and "tough issues tackler" out of Tulsa, OK. But what in the Bill Lerach "plea copping" arouses Risk that fellow "plea coppers", Dickie Scruggs and Melvyn Weiss (Lerach's former partner) DO NOT? According to the Wall Street Journal, Melvyn Weiss, the onetime powerhouse shareholders lawyer, struck a deal to agree to plead guilty in a case alleging improper kickbacks (same as Lerach). Terms of the deal, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, weren't known. Weiss, 72, was indicted in connection with an alleged scheme at his law firm, now known as Milberg LLP, to pay millions of dollars in kickbacks to clients in exchange for their being ready to serve as name plaintiffs in lucrative shareholder class-action cases. He was charged with four counts and could have faced 40 years i...
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Law Firm Lets Life Insurance Policy Lapse With Policy Loan in Excess of Bas
2008-03-19 20:19:00
The Washington Report, a publication of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) reports of a decision that will be of interested to law firms who use life insurance as part of buy/sell succession planning. The Tax Court had held in Dyer v Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2008-23, that income received by the taxpayer's law firm, upon the lapse of a life insurance policy which insured the taxpayer, was not taxable to him or his wife because they were not owners, and did not receive income from, or any benefits of the policy. The life insurer did not have any contact with the taxpayers. The tax payers did not take any distribution from the policy. The law firm had purchased a Northwestern Mutual life insurance policy on it's former partners life in 1978 with his wife named his wife as beneficiary. An oral agreement among the partners that they would insure each other to cover the contingency of a partner's premature demise. If such an event occurred the proceeds fr...
More About: Insurance , Loan , Policy , Life Insurance

Forge Consulting and "Structured Asse" Attempt to Promote Themselves On Wik
2008-03-19 13:27:00
An attempt to use Wikipedia for the advertising of Forge Consulting , LLC out of its Georgia operation has resulted in a speedy deletion pasting on February 25, 2008. Download forge_wikipedia_shows_up_on_google_search _3192008.pdf Download forgewikipedia_attempted_listing_2252008. pdf The rules of Wikipedia cite that certain articles are candidates for "speedy deletion". In this case:"An article about a real person, organization (band, club, company, etc.), or web content that does not indicate why its subject is important or significant. This is distinct from questions of notability, verifiability and reliability of sources. A7 applies only to articles about web content or articles on people and organizations themselves, not articles on their books, albums, software and so on." Wikipedia's editors have yet to get wind of the hi-jinks of factoring company Structured Asset Funding (subject of our recent story "Structured Asse") which is, in my opinion, inappro...
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