CORDERO CASE RECAP

Patrick Hindert at Independent Life did an excellent three-part blog post on the Cordero Case that was argued before the New York Court of Appeals earlier this year. Part One sets out the facts of Mr. Cordero’s case, and outlines the question that was certified to the New York Court of Appeals: Does a plaintiff […]

Stone to Speak at Society of Settlement Planners Conference

Edward Stone will be a guest speaker at the 2023 Society of Settlement Planners Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Stone will be speaking on Cordero v. Transamerica Annuity Serv. Corp.: Understanding the Implications. Attorney Stephen Harris of the Law Office of Stephen Harris will join Mr. Stone on this panel.

Stone Appointed Class Counsel in Symetra Class Action

White, et al. v. Symetra Assigned Benefits Service Company, et al. United States District Court Western District of Washington Case No. 20-cv-01866 The Court appointed attorneys Edward Stone of Edward Stone Law PC, Alison Chase, Gretchen Freemen Cappio, Lynn Lincoln Sarko, Adele Daniel and Sydney Read of Keller Rohrback LLP, Daniel Simons of Marcus & […]

CFPB Settles Access Funding Lawsuit

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 […]

Access Funding Indictment

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 […]

Structured Settlement Factoring Exposé – Minnesota Star Tribune

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 […]

FORUM SHOPPING – FACTORING COMPANIES – STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS

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 – Fraud in Factoring Transactions

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 […]

Revised Structured Settlement Protection Act in Louisiana

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 […]

Kentucky Supreme Court Rules on Worker’s Comp Payments

Ruling in a case in mid-December, 2018, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the Kentucky Structured Settlement Protection Act applied only to “tort claims” and did not apply to workers’ compensation settlement payments. In 2015 Ray Thomas settled a workers’ comp claim against his employer.  The settlement agreement provided for certain lump sum payments to […]