On May 26th, 2010 Judge Norma Ruiz denied a request for court approval to transfer future structured settlement payment rights to Settlement Funding of New York, LLC (Peachtree Financial). The opinion, seen here, is a direct response to the “cash now” advertising of this company. It’s good to see a judge take the time to enforce the Structured Settlement Protection Act as noted by this author.
It has come to our attention that a rumor being spread by a competitor that could affect your choice when choosing a company to work with when cashing out a structured settlement. The false rumor being spread states that certain companies provide extremely competitive quotes as a loss leader on a transaction in order to secure future deals from that particular annuitant from vastly higher discount rates to make up for any loss occurred in the original transaction.
Most everyone has seen some version of a commercial about structured settlements, usually tied into “getting cash now.”
It can be confusing, complex topic, and many companies are not communicating accurate information. It’s actually a simple concept, but the legal documents make it seem much more complicated than it is.
What is a structured settlement?
A structured settlement, strictly defined, is a negotiated agreement in a tort action to provide payments over time. It happens after a court process where one party was hurt and the other party is told to pay. The matter could be personal injury, worker’s compensation for an on-the-job injury, property loss, wrongful termination or a wrongful death claim where a spouse and/or minor children are seeking compensation for lost wages and intangible support, or similar issues. Structured settlements are not usually considered for minor or short-term injuries.
It should be noted that lottery payments are not structured settlements. Those are agreements for periodic payments over time. There are fewer regulations on how to cash-out those payments – turning that revenue stream into a single payment.
The following comment was left on this blog from a disgruntled client of Stone Street Capital. Please read our notes at the bottom of the page for tips to avoid these types of companies.
“I have included my response to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and I would like to share with consumers.
I am in reciept(sic.) of the response from Stone Street capital regarding my BBB complaint and would like to respond. I find it highly unlikely that Stone Street would be confused about my feelings or complaints against them as I have been very vocal throughout the transaction. First let me point out that I am exceptionally familiar with the process of this type of transaction as I have sold payments twice before.
I entered into an agreement with Stone Street in November of 2009 with the understanding that the case would be filed right away and that I would be funded by February of 2010 which is why the sale began with my March 2010 payments. I was very much surprised and dissappointed(sic.) when I learned that the case was filed in King County Court until February 1, 2010 which gave us a hearing date of March 16, 2010. As far as the modified deal. Stone Street failed to file the amended documents with the court as required. The sale price that was on record with the court was close to ten thousand dollars less than the ammended(sic.) agreement. As far as purchase price, I feel that I was a victim of bait and switch. I was initially offered a net price of $62,000. The ammended(sic.) documents left me responsible for the $1900 attorney/processing fees.
Settlement Quotes has compiled a list of every company that purchases structured settlement payment rights. Throughout the next 3 weeks we will be writing an article on every company in the industry, providing facts about each company including their Better Business Bureau record, number of years in business, number of employees, and many other pertinent information.
What is the servicing of structured settlement payments?
The servicing of structured settlement payments occurs when an annuitant enters into a structured settlement factoring agreement in which the annuitant chooses to split one or more payments and the factoring company becomes the payee of the entire payment. Once the factoring company receives the entire payment from the insurance company, they keep their agreed upon amount and pay the annuitant their portion.
There have been many articles written throughout the World Wide Web that promote misinformation about the structured settlement factoring industry and specifically selling the rights to structured settlement payments. This author would like to dismiss these myths and provide a faq for annuitants to refer to when selling the rights to their payments.
In a recent article published by a representative of Stone Street Capital, a list of characteristics were provided to look for in a structured settlement factoring company that you may want to do business with.
Here is a summarized list:
After receiving approval by a Delaware judge, JG Wentworth received $100 million from their parent, private equity firm JLL Partners of New York. This boost significantly helps JG Wentworth continue to operate their ongoing business.
Now that JG Wentworth’s bankruptcy plan was accepted, they have zero debt and enough cash to operate for the foreseeable future.
If you have any questions about this matter, please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Today, JG Wentworth announced that three of its non-operating parent holding company level affiliates – JGW Holdco, LLC, J.G. Wentworth LLC, and J.G. Wentworth, Inc., — have filed a voluntary reorganization plan under Chapter 11 of the U. S. Bankruptcy Code in the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.