by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Are you a resident of New York who has been threatened by a settlement buyer that has advanced money on a structured settlement factoring transaction, simply because you got cold feet, or otherwise decided to back out?
If the answer is yes, there is something you should know.
New York General Obligations Law 5-1708(d), part of the New York Structured Settlement Protection Act states unequivocally:
"No payee who proposes to make a transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall incur any penalty, forfeit any application fee or other payment, or otherwise incur any liability to the proposed transferee or any assignee based on any failure of such transfer to satisfy the conditions of this title".
New York General Obligations Law 5-1709 (b), part of the New York Structured Settlement Protection Act states unequivocally:
"Any payee injured by a violation of this title may bring an action for the recovery of damages. The court may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing plaintiff".
Are Settlement Purchasers and Structured Settlement Factoring Companies Violating the Law?
In a recent case, a New Yorker suffering from quadriplegia was given $22,900 in advances by a West Palm Beach Florida settlement purchaser and then sued when he decided to back out, because he thought he was being scammed. The New York man offered to pay the money back according to his response to the legal complaint to no avail. The case settled with the New Yorker agreeing to pay back a reduced amount.
It's one thing to help someone not get evicted. It's whole other thing to bait annuitants with serial advances contingent on priced structured settlement deals if this was a good deal and then sue them. New York lawmakers clearly recognized this possibility when they passed the NY SSPA. On the flip side, there are instances where annuitants attempt to game multiple settlement purchasers for advances.