by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Investors in structured settlement receivables, encounter originators that use disposable DBAs like a disposable diaper, arguably harmful to both selling annuitants and and investors.
Speaking of a Florida company, the following is an excerpt of what a source represented was sent to the Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB).
“…uses dozens of different marketing brands to trick costumers into thinking they’re not affiliated with …but then recommending the customer to use …because of their “particular situation.” … They use various companies to file disposable DBAs for them so they can’t be linked back to them, since the address belongs to the DBAs’ creator”…Once …has a consumer in their “pipeline” they proceed to use other DBAs, which are often only used a few months until they’re replaced, to file for court approval of transfer of the costumer’s structured settlement or annuity payments”
Sep 29, 2024 ·”Defendants in the case included Ryan Blank and the three Delaware-based LLCs he created to conduct the transactions”
Source: Andrew Weissman, McClatchy newspapers reporting about a multi-million dollar settlement in which Ryan Blank and his companies contributed $700,000 and the guardian ad litem, factoring company lawyer and law firm, each paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and led to a restoration of the factored payments to the Badger children by SuttonPark.
Read about another shocking case in Beaumont Texas, that I reported about in May 2020, where the purchasing company, an affiliate of Rising Capital Associates, was set up and in existence for only 5 months
Why Structured Settlement “Cash Now” Companies use DBAs
- So that court scraping competing factoring companies cannot get at the annuitant.
- Some companies spend hundreds of thousands or millions on advertising and when they have a “fish on the hook”, they don’t want another structured settlement cash now vulture to swoop in and gazump them.
- One rationale for protecting annuitants is that it is a way for annuitants to avoid harassing and stalking phone calls.
Negatives on the Use of DBAs
- Aids potential criminality in the structured settlement secondary market
- Aids misrepresentation in the structured settlement secondary market
Structured Settlement Privacy Texas Style
On May 19, 2017 the State of Texas unanimously passed HB3356 , changing Texas law concerning structured settlement factoring transactions Section 141.006 Civil Practice and Remedies Code
(d) If the application under this chapter for approval of a transfer of structured settlement payment rights includes a written request by the payee to conceal from public inspection the personally identifiable information of the payee and the court and each interested party required to receive notice under Subsection (b) receive complete, unredacted copies of the application, other pleadings, and any order in the time provided by Subsection (b), as applicable:
(1) in any application, other pleadings, or any order filed or submitted, the court shall permit the full redaction of the name of the payee, the address of the payee, and other information that could reasonably be used to determine the identity or address of the payee, including the names of dependents, family members, and beneficiaries; and (
2) with respect to any order issued approving or denying the transfer of structured settlement payment rights:
(A) a copy of the order, with the information described by Subdivision (1) redacted, shall be filed as part of the public record; (B) at the same time as the filing under Paragraph (A), an unredacted copy of the order shall be issued under seal and shall be provided to the transferee and each interested
party entitled to notice under Subsection (b); and (C) not earlier than six months after the date the order is issued, the court on its own initiative may, or on the motion of any person including a member of the general public shall, unseal the unredacted order and make the order part of the public record.
(e) Except as provided by this subsection, Rule 76a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, applies to all court proceedings and filings under this chapter. A party is not required to comply with that rule in order to redact the payee’s personally identifiable information under Subsection (d)(1) or for the purpose of issuing an unredacted copy of the order under seal under Subsection (d)(2).
The bill was allegedly initiated by a Maryland company known for creating deceptive lead generation schemes (e.g. National Structured Settlement Registry”
Last updated October 13, 2024