Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog 2026

by Structured Settlement Watchdog®

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

If you sell structured settlement payments to an unregistered structured settlement factoring company and later seek legal redress for any reason, where do you go?

Our research reveals that a number of cash for structured settlement companies may not be registered to do business in your state.

Most states require registration or “certificate of authority” to transact business within it borders. Typically such registrations are required within a certain number of days of transacting business in the state. Consumers should be able to easily see where a company is based, who its officers are and who its registered agent is for service of process.

If a structured settlement factoring company that has drawn revenue from residents of the State of Connecticut for many years is not registered with the Connecticut Secretary of State and has not filed annual reports with the Connecticut Secretary of State, not only has the state lost revenue but its consumers face added expense when seeking redress.

Reasons to be concerned about lack of licensure

Or (1) Registration as Transferee, (2)Mandatory File a Bond, (3)Mandatory IPA. Why is this even an issue 25 years Post VTTRA 2001?

I have concerns because to set up shop for structured settlement factoring,

• Requires no licensure (except a few states)
• Requires no civil or criminal background checks
• Involves potentially life impacting financial decisions by consumers who may not have the abilty to earn back a mistake.
• May involve an unsolicited marketing approach and life impacting financial decisions by impressionable young adults
• May involve an unsolicited marketing approach and life impacting financial decisions by seniors
• May involve an unsolicited marketing approach and life impacting financial decisions by people who suffer from profound injuries or cognitive impairments.
• May involve soliciting investors in the state
• May involve solicitations to consumers from websites such as Freedom1stFunding.com, registered anonymously and intentionally set up in offshore jurisdictions to be as much of a pain in the butt for consumers, competitors and their lawyers to pursue redress as possible.
• May, at least in one case, involve unfair and indecent trade practices emboldened by websites registered anonymously and intentionally set up in offshore jurisdictions that do not subscribe to the Hague Service Convention and using sophisticated identity cloaking techniques.

There is evidence of “cash for structured settlement” companies doing business in multiple states without filing. One company lists a corporate headquarters in one state in its Better Business Bureau record. I tracked down the corporate headquarters to one of those business centers where you can rent an office by the hour. Moreover, the subject company has apparently not filed a registration with the Secretary of State in the very state where such headquarters is advertised to be. Furthermore, according to a search on the online records of the State of Connecticut at time of posting, the CT Secretary of State appears to have no record of the company. There is evidence that the company in question has done business with consumers in the state of Connecticut. For purposes of this example, how would a consumer seek legal redress against the company if he or she needed to? How much additional resources would need to spend.

According to Connecticut General Statutes CGS 33-921(d) “Transacting Business Without Authority” the fine for not registering within 90 days of transacting business in Connecticut is, all the fees and taxes which would have been applied had filing been timely, plus all interest and penalties imposed by law and a further $300 per month penalty. The Attorney General of the State of Connecticut has the power to enjoin such entities from transacting business until compliance is achieved. The Structured Settlement Watchdog® encourages factoring companies who solicit Connecticut residents to register to do business in the State of Connecticut and in any other state where they do business.

The Structured Settlement Watchdog® encourages the National Association of Settlement Purchasers to assist in elevating the profession by encouraging its members to take proactive steps to register.