On December 17, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settled its lengthy, five-year litigation with Access Funding, LLC, Access Holding, LLC, Reliance Funding, LLC, Lee Jundanian, Raffi Boghosian, Michael Brokowski, and Charles Smith for a paltry disgorgement of $40,000 and a $10,000 civil penalty. The settlement was approved by Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander, who took […]
On December 21, 2021, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh issued a press release announcing the indictment of three individuals in connection with the Access Funding structured settlement factoring scheme involving victims of lead paint poisoning. Raffi Michael Boghosian, Charles Edward Smith, and Anuj Sud were charged with Theft Scheme over $100,000 and Conspiracy to Commit […]
Kudos to a group of investigative journalists at the Minnesota Star Tribune for what is to be a four part series on abuses in the structured settlement factoring industry. The interactive article, with the first two parts published on October 3, 2021 is a wealth of data on more than 700 cases approved by Minnesota […]
Last month, on July 12, 2021, in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Access Funding, LLC, et al, (Case No. 16-3759, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland) Judge Ellen Hollander denied a motion to dismiss the amended complaint and a motion for a judgment on the pleadings. The amended complaint filed in 2017 against Access Funding, […]
Here at Edward Stone Law, we get phone calls every day from people who feel they have been taken advantage of by factoring companies when selling their structured settlement payments. One of the most common things we hear is that sellers have been told it is legal to go to another state and sell their […]
Forum shopping in the transfer of structured settlement payment rights transfer is not legal. 26 U.S.C. Section 5891 imposes a 40% excise tax on any structured settlement transfer that does not qualify for one of the exemptions set forth in Section 5891(b). In order to qualify for one of the exemptions, a transfer petition must […]
A factoring company may only file a transfer petition in the seller’s state of residence or domicile. If a factoring company causes a transfer petition to be filed in a state other than the state where the seller lives, then the factoring company is not complying with applicable State and Federal laws. Edward Stone Law […]
Louisiana’s Structured Settlement Protection Act (SSPA) was just revised, adding some additional provisions which may help curb some of the factoring industry abuses. Unfortunately, some of the new provisions are designed to protect the factoring companies, and not those selling their structured settlement payments. The new legislation, which goes into effect on July 1, 2020 […]
Scams in the structured settlement secondary market abound. If you are the recipient of a structured settlement annuity and receive a phone call from someone who says “I work with your insurance company and you are owed money” just hang up the phone. The caller doesn’t work with your insurance company, and you aren’t “owed […]
A recent Appellate Court opinion from the 4th District in Illinois highlights more structured settlement factoring fraud. In this instance, Stone Street Capital, LLC purchased payments in four separate transactions from 2010 – 2013 filed in Sangamon County, Illinois. Stone Street filed four transfer petitions seeking to purchase structured settlement annuity payment streams from a […]
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