Litigation

Society of Settlement Planners Elects Factoring Broker to Board of Directors

Posted on May 06, 2010
The Society of Settlement Planners has broken new ground in electing factoring company intermediary Rhonda Bentzen of Franklin, Tennessee to its Board of Directors.Now THAT'S ballsy! While the SSP initially took in factoring money from companies such as Peachtree Settlement...

Market Slips On Greece: Biggest Intraday Trading Loss in History Highlights Advantages of Structured Settlements

Posted on May 06, 2010
"In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points amid worries about European debt". Yahoo Finance May 6, 2010 " The Dow Down 700 in 15 minutes, Up 600 in next 20...

Structured Settlement Advertising and Solicitation: Guaranty Funds Redux

Posted on May 05, 2010
The National Structured Settlements Trade Association has revamped its website bringing much needed technological changes which enhance its ability to serve its members and the general public. The website includes a Financial Security document that is available for download by...

IRC 104(a)(2): Structured Settlement Payments Fully "Tax Free" or Not?

Posted on May 05, 2010
A prominent settlement industry website states "Section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code clarifies that the full amount of the structured settlement payments is tax-free to the victim. (By contrast, the investment earnings on a lump sum payment are usually...

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"Puffery" The Magic Dragon?

Posted on May 05, 2010
Why do some twits continue to mischaracterize structured settlements funded with annuities issued by Symetra Life Insurance Company as being provided by a "Berkshire Hathaway entity"? The obvious answer (as I pointed out in November 2009) was to increase confidence...

Spencer v Hartford Settlement: Fluffer Nutty Commentary from S2KM

Posted on May 03, 2010
Spencer v Hartford, a class action lawsuit about the former structured settlement business practices of Hartford Financial Services Group, has settled for amount that is 10% of what the "clairvoyant" alarmist Patrick Hindert of S2KM and The Settlement Services Group...

Structured Settlement Website Rankings (By Traffic) May 2010 Survey

Posted on May 03, 2010
Which legitimate structured settlement industry websites are getting the most Internet traffic? Three Month Trailing Top 10 Global Traffic Rank (Alexa Rank as of 05/03/2010) of Structured Settlement and Settlement Planning Industry websites* (+ or- traffic from 04/01/2010 report)...

Constructive Receipt: Mixing Apples and Oranges

Posted on May 03, 2010
Settlement Professionals/SPI seems to have things mixed up concerning constructive receipt as it applies to structured sales (which it dubs the "Ensured Structured Sale")** SPI "The Doctrine of Constructive Receipt taxes income before that income is actually received" Comment: Governments...

JG Wentworth Goes Bus: The Honey Lampooners

Posted on April 28, 2010
In the latest JG Wentworth commercial we're treated to a rendition of the 877-Cash Now "opus" aboard a city bus driven by Mr. Wentworth, who has discarded his black tie and tails for Ralph Kramden couture. What Would "Ralphie Boy"...

Fear Not Trial Lawyers! Factoring "Ain't Nothing" and All That!

Posted on April 26, 2010
Hey trial lawyers! Fear of factoring got you worried about placing your client in a structured settlements? The ubiquitous advertising makes it SEEM like a bigger problem than it really is. Consider an April 26, 2010 report in Euromoney Institutional...

Structured Settlements 4Real Has Copy Cat

Posted on April 25, 2010
The Structured Settlements 4Real blog, written by John Darer IS NOT related to the web site associated with the domain located at structuredsettlements4real.com. 4structures.com, LLC established the Structured Settlements 4Real blog in November 2005 and has over 2370 blog posts...

Structured Settlement Payment Rights: Insurance Companies Buy Them In Secondary Market, So Why Shouldn't We? Why shouldn't Other tort victims?

Posted on April 24, 2010
"This transaction established a new, more liquid benchmark in the asset backed market which was underlined by strong investor demand from insurance companies, money managers and hedge funds.? Stefano Sola Chief Investment Officer for J.G. Wentworth, Philadelphia Business Journal April...

NSSTA and "Old Silverback" Battling For Asia Dominance...On The Web

Posted on April 24, 2010
Two structured settlement juggernauts, the NSSTA and Oregon based settlement planner Jack Meligan (known affectionately to his partner as "Old Silverback") are duking it out for Asia dominance on the web according to a recent Alexa.com metric. vs The "Mai...

SSP and NSSTA Annual Meeting Agenda

Posted on April 24, 2010
Both settlement industry trade associations for the primary market will be holding their annual meetings in Washington D.C during the week of May 3, 2010. Both offer strong programs (see below) for different reasons. As an observation, the SSP program...

Settlement Industry Leadership: Nominees For NSSTA Board of Directors 2010

Posted on April 22, 2010
The National Structured Settlements Trade Association ("NSSTA") has announced a strong group of nominees its Board of Directors for the 2010-2011 year Joseph Barnet, Prudential Len Blonder, EPS Settlements Joseph A. Di Gangi, Millennium Settlement Consulting Randy Dyer, Ringler Associates...

Unleavened Blev-2

Posted on April 22, 2010
This blog post continues our series about an affiliate website of Settlement Professionals, Inc. that continues to contain major inaccuracies about structured settlements and, in my opinion, presents a mediocre display of knowledge that should be fundamental to the settlement...

The "Same System the Judges Use" and Other Factoring Fairy Tales

Posted on April 22, 2010
Apparently a number of factoring company representatives are turning to Mother Goose to ward off the competition at the expense of structured settlement annuitant consumers. I have now heard from two different sources that some are telling consumers that they...

CFP Board Enforces Code of Ethics, Will Settlement Industry Draw Inspiration?

Posted on April 20, 2010
A March 8, 2010 article in Investment News states that the Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards Inc. ("CFP Board") disciplinary and ethics boards have been operating at heightened levels of activity due to problematic behavior by CFP certificants arising,...

Are Financial Advisors Blowing Away Structured Settlements With "In Force" Structured Settlement Secondary Market Sales To Injury Victims and Lawyers?

Posted on April 19, 2010
In a Ponzi scheme the last to invest get hosed. On the other hand, with a legal purchase of in-force structured settlement annuity payment rights the original annuitant who needs cash, who theoretically has exhausted other financiang options, and therefore...

Wichita Kansas Man Involved in Alleged Internet Content Theft

Posted on April 19, 2010
Is this is the face of a content thief? structuredsettlements.gylnnsbusiness dot com, a website registered to Curtis MIller of "Internet Marketer" Gylnnns Ventures/ Miller Enterprises of 130 S. Charles St. , #2 Wichita Kansas** has, in multiple instances, included plagiarism...

Financial Iliteracy Moments of 2010-4 JG Wentworth on Structured Annuity

Posted on April 18, 2010
JG Wentworth, the cash now pusher from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania has a MAJOR financial illiteracy moment by advertising that you can sell it your structured settlement annuity in Google Sponsored Ads which appear at the top of search engine results...

Relevance and Social Media Tagging

Posted on April 18, 2010
Could The Settlement Services Group's Patrick Hindert do any more to ride the creases of a dead man's shroud? Patrick Hindert posted an online interview with deceased Paralympian Randy Snow in August 2008. Then when Randy Snow met his untimely...

Financial Reform, The Rating Agencies and the Structured Settlement Purchase Decision

Posted on April 17, 2010
Rating agencies have been used by agents,brokers and purchasers of insurance for years as part of their due diligence. Yet Executive Life was rated AAA only months before its collapse in 1991. 17 years later the integrity of the ratings...

Going With Big Advertisers Means Nothing: Consumer Pits JG Wentworth against Peachtree and Still Loses

Posted on April 15, 2010
Cash now pushers spend huge sums of money on advertising each year. Memorable advertising such as JG Wentworth's tribute to zaftig Viking opera singers serves to increase brand awareness. As obnoxious as it is, and however misleading some of it...

Penalty Free IRA Withdrawals for Unequal Periodic Payments to Disabled Says IRS Private Letter Ruling

Posted on April 14, 2010
A new IRS Private Letter Ruling gave a disabled taxpayer relief by permitting withdrawals of unequal periodic payments from the taxpayer's IRA Background The taxpayer has multiple sclerosis and is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of...

South Carolina Insurance Licensing Requirements -40% Agents Not Yet in Compliance

Posted on April 13, 2010
If you do business in South Carolina and you haven't yet complied with the new licensing requirements, you better act fast. The deadline for those who want to continue to do insurance business in the state is looming. The South...

What's Doing With The Halpern Group?

Posted on April 13, 2010
What is going on with The Halpern Group? In this video Registered Settlement Planner and LBN commentator, 4structures.com, LLC's John Darer interviews The Halpern Group President Risa Lower to discuss what has REALLY been happening since the death of Richard...

Connecticut Insurance Department Fines GEICO $178K

Posted on April 10, 2010
The Connecticut Insurance Department announced April 9, 2010 that it has fined four GEICO subsidiaries a total of $177,500 for improper rating, claim delays and the use of unlicensed adjusters among other violations, according ta report in Insurance Journal...

Americans Earning Greater Than $250K Could Pay 58% Tax in 2010 Says Tax Foundation

Posted on April 09, 2010
The advantages of structured settlements are many, but the one that receives heavy emphasis is the tax benefit to physical injury victims or to survivors of those who have died and recovered in a wrongful death law suit. A few...

Structured Settlement "News" TIme Warp?

Posted on April 09, 2010
News is the communication of information on current events which is presented by print, Internet, broadcast or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience according to Wikipedia. Yet in the age of Twitter, one of my esteemed...

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