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
- Daily Rates Are Often an Important Cost Driver of Structured Settlements
- 🔥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)
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Category: Rockville Structured Settlements
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A number of Mass Tort law firms are investigating the business conduct of structured settlement factoring companies and they are “going to get these companies and the independent advisers who enable this ‘highway robbery’ to take place”
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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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As you read this there is no license required to work in the structured settlement secondary market AND there is no regulator in any state! Moreover, in many cases the structure is all these people have! I
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Why would a lawsuit that effectively alleges that a lawyer didn’t do his job properly and act in his client’s best interest be bad for annuitants? Should we overlook advisor mediocrity when it comes advice given to the cognitively impaired, the elderly, the disabled or the naive?
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The Mary Alice Rose case challenges Maryland’s standards for Independent Professional Advice (IPA) for structured settlement sales. The complaint alleges attorney Charles E. Smith misrepresented providing independent advice, prioritizing profit instead. Rose’s cognitive impairments left her vulnerable, questioning the effectiveness of protections meant for such individuals. Mandatory court appearances could enhance oversight.
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Smith allegedly advised an illiterate, intellectually disabled 20 year old on the sale of a structured settlement (designed to protect her for life) for a severely discounted amount of cash, without meeting her or providing counsel on the potential consequences of selling the structured settlement payments
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Depending on the non qualified assignment facility used, non qualified structured settlements can be funded with annuities, United States Treasury obligations, professional money management (based on objective formula) and/or structured settlement payment rights.
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Maryland regulations established in the wake of the Access Funding debacle make it unlawful for a factoring company, or “structured settlement transferee,” to acquire structured settlement payment rights in Maryland without first registering with the Office of the Attorney General.
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The Baltimore lawyer, who will remain nameless ( for now) operates out of an office on Baltimore Street, ostensibly charges $3,000 effing dollars an hour. How can someone properly evaluate whether or not the structured settlement factoring transaction is in someone’s best interest in 15 minutes?