by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
ConsumerAffairs.com Shocker
Consumer advocacy company lauded defunct company, accused of exploiting Baltimore City black lead paint victims who were dubbed “lead paint virgins” in the Access Funding manual.
CFPB v. Access Funding, LLC
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a federal government agency that enforces laws that protect consumers. The CFPB sued Access Funding, LLC, and other defendants..
The CFPB alleges that Access Funding was aware that the individuals from whom they purchased structured settlement payments were financially unsophisticated and in need of the funds the company could supply.
The CFPB also alleged that the companies and their principals steered consumers to receive “independent advice” from Charles E. Smith, who was paid directly by Access Funding and indicated to consumers that the transactions required very little scrutiny.
The CFPB also alleged that Attorney Cherles E Smith conduct was unfair, abusive, and deceptive in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 and that Access Funding and its leadership unlawfully aided Smith’s illegal conduct and engaged in abusive conduct.
- See Access Funding, LLC | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and
- MD Lawyer Charles E. Smith Sued for Bad Structured Settlement Advice in IPA – Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog June 19, 2015
- Consumer Affairs Still Rates Exploiters of Black Lead Paint Victims Like Freddie Gray As One of Best Companies – Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog March 14, 2016
- Access Funding False and Misleading “NSSTA Financial Solutions Program” – Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog September 23, 2014
About ConsumerAffairs.Com
According to its website “ConsumerAffairs is a consumer news and advocacy organization founded in 1998 by James R. Hood, a veteran Washington, D.C. journalist and public affairs executive”. I guess James R. Hood doesn’t read his hometown newspaper, The Washington Post, eh Terry McCoy?
My concern for consumers over the utility of the ConsumerAffairs website for structured settlement research is that it failed to remove Access Funding from the Top 10 when a front page news story appeared in the Washington Post as well as numerous other publications in the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. This was all over the news.