Structured Settlements 4Real®Blog 2026
Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements and settlement planning information and news, and provides expert opinion and highly regarded commentary. that is spicy, Informative, irreverent and effective for over 20 years.
recent posts
- 🔥Founder and Former CEO of 777 Partners, Joshua Wander, Pleads Guilty⚖️ to $500 Million Fraud Scheme — DOJ Confirms Double‑Pledging, Misappropriation of Structured‑Settlement Funds, and Falsified Bank Statements
- The Steering Problem Needs a Wake‑Up Call
- Companies Still Using the Incorrect Term “Secondary Market Annuity”
- Canonical: Non‑Qualified Assignment (NQA)
- ⭐ THE 18–25 GUIDE TO STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS
about
Category: Access Funding Scam
Access Funding Scam contains documentation and analysis of deceptive, misleading, or harmful practices attributed to Access Funding, including conduct identified in regulatory actions, investigative reporting, litigation records, or publicly available evidence. This category covers patterns of consumer exploitation, unethical sales behavior, predatory targeting, and any substantiated misconduct associated with Access Funding’s operations or personnel.
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On April 7, 2023, the Circuit Court of Maryland handed down sentences to 3 defendants associated with a role in the Access Funding scam of black lead paint victims in Baltimore City from 2013-2015 that received extensive coverage in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and other publications
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Oral arguments in Crystal Linton, et al. v. Consumer Protection Division are due to be heard in the Maryland Court of Appeals on January 6, 2020. The Linton case stems from an alleged massive scam of Baltimore inner city residents by Access Funding, a former buyer of structured settlement payment rights
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Maryland has been a tough nut to crack for structured settlement factoring companies since the Access Funding fraud, that scammed many Baltimore City lead paint victims, which was exposed by the Washington Post in August 2015.
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Charles E. Smith’s Structured Settlement IPA Work | The “Pffft” That Keeps on Lingering in Maryland. Shafted more than a dozen Maryland citizens receiving Allstate structured settlements with incompetent shoddy advice that was on so many levels not in their best interest.
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Charles E Smith advised an illiterate, intellectually disabled young woman to sell her structured settlement for a small and severely discounted amount of cash, without meeting her or providing counsel on the potential consequences, according to the complaint.
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Besieged Access Funding is given the avian flesh ripping moniker as a metaphor for ripping bloody chunks of present value out of the structured settlements of its alleged victims,now subject of an investigation by Maryland’s attorney general and a Congressional investigation.
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“I want to understand not only how this company (Access Funding) has been engaging in these practices, but also whether broader reforms are necessary to protect vulnerable families from dishonest financial predators.” Rep Elijah Cummings
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The Washington Post’s Terrence McCoy’s thoughtful in depth expose attempts to shine a bright light on what he calls the little-noticed, effectively unregulated netherworld of structured settlements”. The unique confluence of factors in Maryland constitutes the “perfect storm of bad stuff”,