by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Annuitant v Structured Settlement Factoring Company (New York edition)
On October 12, 2021, Judge Ann Marie Taddeo dealt another procedural blow to Structured Asset Funding in their effort to wriggle out of the allegation of fraud case against the Fort Lauderdale Florida structured settlement factoring company. [ Philip Lape, Plaintiff v Structured Asset Funding, LLC d/b/a 123 LumpSum, Insurance Company of North America, and Life Insurance Company of North America, Defendants Supreme Court of the State of New York Monroe County Index No. E2020003377] See Copy of Complaint in Lape v Structured Asset Funding dba 123 Lump- Sum et al.
The Lape lawsuit against SAF/123 Lump Sum stems from a series of transfers in which SAF/123 Lump Sum allegedly induced Lape to come to Florida to do the deals even though they knew he was a resident and domiciled in New York. The Complaint against SAF/123 Lump sum includes copies of emails from Mel Luback, then an employee of Structured Asset Services that speak for themselves, highlighting who induced who as well as the manufacturing that was done to do the deal in Florida. As one would expect, like they did to Terrence Taylor in a West Virginia to Virginia case filed in 2015 and ongoing, part of SAF/123 Lump Sum's defense has been to attack their former client saying they were complicit in the fraud. Forum shopping was a dirty little secret of the structured settlement factoring industry before it began to get exposed in a series of legal cases and chronicled here. Judge Michelle Morley's courtroom in Sumter County became the de facto structured settlement forum shopping mall of the South until Florida's structured settlement transfer laws were tightened up.
But what's interesting in this case is that Lape is seeking fraud damages and not trying to overturn the Florida orders.
Structured Asset Funding was highlighted as a "whale hunter" in Access Funding's training manual obtained from the Consumer Financial Training Bureau website.
Lape case Timeline
May 16, 2020 Action Commenced
June 30, 2020 Structured Asset/123 Lump Sum moves to Dismiss
December 15, 2020 Judge Ann Marie Taddeo denies the Structured Asset motion
January 8, 2021 Structured Asset moves to reargue
February 25, 2021 "No dice" from Judge Taddeo. She denies Structured Asset Funding's motion
March 23, 2021 Structured Asset file a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff opposed and moved to compel SAF to comply with the Court's previous Order of discovery
July 28, 2021 Judge Taddeo denies the SAF motion for summary judgment and granted Plaintiff's motion to compel
August 3, 2021 Structured Asset filed Notice of Appeal and moved for stay of discovery pending the appeal.
October 12, 2021 Court denies motion to stay discovery. reasoning that any further delay in conduction discovery will only serve to prejudice Plaintiff's ability to prosecute his case.
If "Toto" were here, Dorothy might tell Structured Asset Funding (123Lump Sum) "we're not in Portsmouth anymore", a nod to the Terrence Taylor mess that has seen a black annuitant's "10 transfers in 2 years" case stretched out over 6 years through the "impressive" legal maneuvers of Portsmouth Virginia attorney Steve Heretick who was disqualified from the Taylor case earlier this month with 24 motions pending, some for almost 6 years.