by Structured Settlement Watchdog®
Seneca One religiously pushes a $5,000 cash advance as " Unlock $5K of your money". The question that I pose…" Is Seneca One really "unlocking $5K of your money" or is Seneca One full of kaka, because it really cost you more than $5K to get the $5K?
If you picked "number two" (swish) you might be right. If advertising to buy structured settlement payments were a game of basketball, we might see Bethesda based Seneca One whistled for a technical.
You, see, the $5K is a cash advance payment on a future sale of your structured settlement payment rights to Seneca One, or its assignees, as may be applicable. Since one cannot sell one's structured settlement payment rights without a state court judge blessing it to avoid a 40% excise tax, it costs more than $5K to "unlock $5K of your money". If you figure that legal fees cost $1,500-$3,000 and one adds in even a modest profit margin, the "unlocked amount" will well exceed $5k. Payments that are farther out in the future are worth less, according to Roger Butler, a representative of Seneca One Finance who I reached this afternoon.
Readers of Seneca One's ad and those like it might heed the advice of the late "Thornton Mellon" in a commencement speech…"Look out for number one, but don't step in number two".