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: Structured Settlement Watchdog®
John Darer’s popular watchdog commentary is an effective counter measure to misinformation, whether the misinfornation has been generated thrirough intention or ignorance and also calls out and highlights unethical practices in the structured settlement secondary market and provides valuable insights for attorneys, plaintiffs, defendants, claims adjusters, judges, investigative reporters, buyers and sellers of structured settlement receivables, lawmakers, law enforcement, attorneys general, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the FTC, consumer and disability advocates, and others.
The content is impactful, engaging, and widely regarded, with over 1.5 million page views. on Structured Settlements 4Real alone. On October 1, 2025, The Structured Settlements 4Real blog recently transitioned from the Typepad platform to WordPress after 20 years.
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Less than two years after Todd Lesk was permanently barred from FINRA in October 2023, MJ Settlements, a Coral Springs-based company led by Todd Lesk as CEO, continues to falsely claim on its website that it offers structured settlement annuities.
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Robocallers from Indian and Pakistan inundate American phone lines claiming to be calling from Medicare. “So you’re calling from CMS, eh?” The invariable response is ” no I’m calling from Medicare”. Their script doesn’t contemplate that Medicare is part of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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Structured settlements offer financial security for minor plaintiffs but require court approval, sometimes from multiple jurisdictions, especially in complex cases. Following reports of abusive practices, protective measures ensure that transfers of payment rights are adjudicated by familiar courts. This process, though inconvenient, protects against potential exploitation in the secondary market.
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Can a Structured Settlement Annuity Issuer or Administrator Change Structured Settlement Payment Dates for Its Own Convenience?
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The Q2 2025 Plaintiff Legal Flora and Fauna report highlights significant developments in plaintiff venues, particularly in Henry County, GA. With cases dating back to 2019, the report notes ongoing civil rights litigation involving the City of New York and recent plaintiff activities across various states.
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Paymaster.co, one of the honeypots of unreliable information purporting to be about stuctured settlements, that is controlled by Jovan Johnson, California lawyer and self proclaimed chocolate chip cookie lover, is missing a tombstone on one of the competitor websites listed on the site.
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MJ Settlements appears to be heading toward a potential conflict with several life insurers over the use of their trademarked logos on its website to promote structured settlement receivables to investors, while misleadingly labeling these receivables as annuities in a deceptive manner.
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Litigation over structured settlement receivables began in the early stages of the Pandemc and touched on issues related to reassignment of the receivables.
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Continued use of trademarked insurance company logos by merchants to promote the sale of structured settlement receivables to investors should be a concern to insurance companies, investors and state financial regulators alike. Lesk is fully aware of the deceit.
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The IRS Structured Settlement Factoring Audit Technique Guide was revised in 2009 and 2020, but has disappered in 2025 without a trace. The guide contained useful information for someone who wants to know the basis for Structured Settlement Protection Acts and IRC 5891, a section often cited by settlement professionals.