by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Amazingly, Bethesda Maryland based factoring company Stone Street Capital has somehow avoided our Structured Settlement Advertising Wall of Shame. No more! In one fell swoop they go from "class" to "ass".
The Stone Street Capital suck-in line is "Think about how much the cost of bread, a home or a car has increased in the past 20 years. As each year passes, you will get less and less from your payouts". Thus Stone Street Capital's advertisement starts off by telling you how inflation will erode the value of your structured settlement payments and then fade off into 123Lump Dumb like ideas of selling your payments (at a deep discount) to "buy dream homes", "cars" , "boats" and "so much more…". Bright idea dufus, deep discount right into a depreciating asset!
Here's excerpt from the drivel…
"Let Stone Street Capital give you full control over your money when we buy your structured settlement payments, giving you a lump sum of cash instead. We buy structured settlement payments from countless individuals each year, depositing the full sum of cash in their bank accounts for immediate use. You, too, can get cash for your structured settlements and use the money to pay back medical bills, finance dream homes, cars, boats and so much more! "
Structured Settlement Transaction, or Structured Settlement Factoring Transaction?
Moreover, Stone Street Capital's "Chesapeake bray" contains deceptive wording. The advertising uses "structured settlement transaction" over and over again. when what Stone Street Capital describes what it does is actually a "structured settlement factoring transaction". They should know better being a "Board Member of the mysterious National Association of Settlement Purchasers". Internal Revenue Code Section 5891 describes what a "structured settlement" is and what a "structured settlement factoring transaction" is.
Stone Street Capital Has No Insurance License
Just for kicks I checked the Maryland Insurance Administration to see if Stone Street Capital is licensed as an insurance producer in the state where it has its main office. No surprise there… just like most of the other factoring companies… Download md_insurance_search_stone_street_capital_7172006.pdf
So R. Steven Orr, Commissioner of Insurance for the fine State of Maryland, how do you permit the advertising of what is described in the Internal Revenue Code as something that (for the majority of transactions) would require an insurance license, by an entity that apparently does not possess a valid producer license?
The State of Maryland may have a Structured Settlement Protection Act, but how about some enforcement of its truth in advertising laws? Government officials must enforce advertising protections to protect consumers from companies that add to the confusion.
Notes:
IRC 5891 (c)(B)(i) and (ii) describe a "structured settlement" transaction in relation to a IRC Section 130. A qualified funding asset under IRC 130(c) is most often an annuity contract, the sale of which requires an insurance license.
IRC 5891(c)(3)(A) describes a 'structured settlement factoring transaction" which is an entirely different thing.
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