by Structured Settlement Watchdog
The BBB of Greater Maryland’s Flatter to Deceive Continues
BBB of Maryland has bestowed a dubious A+ rating on AnnuitySold LLC, associated with fraudster Richart Ruddie, whose textbook frauds were cited 18 times in a 2021 Utah law review treatise by UCLA Law professor Eugene Volokh.
Richart Ruddie Annuity (as the unlicensed Ruddie is now apparently self-identifying with a suffix since the last week or so in SEO circles)and his Owings Mills High School friend Ryan Blank, were associated with a number of companies (AnnuitySold, Uber Funding, Axis Funding, Bendermere Funding and others) that were banned in 2018 from doing business in Maryland for 7 years, after a Maryland Attorney General investigation into AnnuitySold fraud. The telephone number on the BBB listing for AnnuitySold LLC was not working at the time of publication.
In 2015, the BBB of Maryland maintained an A+ rating for Mount Airy, Maryland resident David Springer’s Sovereign Funding Group, despite evidence from a 2013 deposition in which Springer admitted under oath to submitting two fictitious names to the BBB. In the June 28, 2013 deposition, Springer testified that he used both aliases. See BBB of Greater Maryland Gave Mt Airy Faker David Springer’s Defunct “Entity” A+.
BBB of Greater Maryland, come on, step up your game! How is a Maryalnd consumer suppposed to tell a scam from a legit business on these examples?
March 26, 2022 Update: BBB of Maryland still displays March 26, 2022 with an A+ rating. Shameful
April 28, 2022 Update: BBB of Maryland still displays A+ rating and this:
“On January 8, 2018, Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement with Annuity Sold, LLC and its affiliate companies to resolve allegations that the business violated the Maryland Consumer Protection Act by misleading injured Marylanders, some of whom are victims of lead paint poisoning, to convert future structured settlements into immediate cash. Under the settlement agreement, the respondents are required to pay full restitution in addition to civil fines and costs. The respondents are also banned from doing business in Maryland for seven years”. Read Maryland Attorney Genreal press Release about AnnuitySold fraud.
July 27, 2022 : Updated BBB of Maryland still displays A+ rating, 4.5 years after the 7 year ban was handed down by the Maryland AG’s office.
Additional information about this matter may be viewed at the link below:
http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/010818.pdf”