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Litigation Funding Business Is ‘Littered With Ethical And Philosophical Quagmires’ Says U.S. News & World Report Article

Litigation Funding Business Is ‘Littered With Ethical And Philosophical Quagmires’ Says U.S. News & World Report Article

A reporter for U.S. News and World Report this week took a look at the “lightly regulated” business of litigation financing, and came away with some interesting comments about the “perverse”business. In a January 22, 2018 article headlined “How Wall Street Invests in Justice”, investing reporter John Divine said that “Litigation financing is an incredibly innovative and interesting creation of high finance, but it’s littered with ethical and philosophical quagmires.” Among his other comments were the following: The “obscure field…

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Court Reinstates Claims Against Attorney in Lawsuit Over Settlement Factoring Practices

Court Reinstates Claims Against Attorney in Lawsuit Over Settlement Factoring Practices

Just four months after dismissing all claims against a lawyer who provided independent professional advice for dozens of structured settlement factoring transactions, a federal court reinstated a claim against the lawyer by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that has claimed that such transactions involved abusive practices. The CFPB sought leave to file an amended complaint that alleged that structured settlement payees were unaware that attorney Charles Smith was, in fact, a lawyer – and therefore they lacked the intent…

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Federal Court Dismisses Some, But Not All, Counts by CFPB Against Structured Settlement Factoring Company

Federal Court Dismisses Some, But Not All, Counts by CFPB Against Structured Settlement Factoring Company

A federal district court this month dismissed four of five counts of a complaint brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against a structured settlement factoring company’s allegedly abusive business practices. The ruling by District Judge J. Frederic Motz of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, in Consumer Fin. Proc. Bureau v. Access Funding, L.L.C., Civil No. 16-03759-JFM, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149519 (D.Md. Sept. 13, 2017), lets stand one count concerning allegedly illegal business practices arising…

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Sues Factoring Company Over Structured Settlement Transfer Deals, Alleges Violation of Federal Law

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Sues Factoring Company Over Structured Settlement Transfer Deals, Alleges Violation of Federal Law

In the latest development involving structured settlement factoring transactions that have come under scrutiny in Maryland since 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed suit against factoring company Access Funding, LLC, alleging that the company engaged in unfair and deceptive practices that are prohibited by federal law. The transactions involve Maryland structured settlement payees who agreed to sell structured settlement payment rights to Access Funding companies in the past five years, and whose deals were approved by court orders in…

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Post Says ‘Casinos and Strip Clubs’ Were Used to Woo Potential Customers to Sell Settlement Payment Rights

Post Says ‘Casinos and Strip Clubs’ Were Used to Woo Potential Customers to Sell Settlement Payment Rights

The Washington Post’s story about the settlement factoring practices in Virginia, “Perils of early payoffs in Virginia” (described in this post earlier today), included a great deal of details about the story of Terrence Taylor. Taylor is a payee who was entitled to receive large structured settlement payments, and whose payments became the subject of multiple proceedings under the Virginia Structured Settlement Protection Act.  Courts in Virginia approved more than a dozen transfers of Taylor’s payments, and Taylor is now suing…

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Factoring Company’s Attempt to Collect ‘Advance’ Was an Impermissible ‘End Run’ Around Lottery Assignment Statute, Says Appeals Court

Factoring Company’s Attempt to Collect ‘Advance’ Was an Impermissible ‘End Run’ Around Lottery Assignment Statute, Says Appeals Court

By statute, when someone wins the Massachusetts lottery and is entitled to receive the lottery winnings over time, the winner can sell the rights to the future payments only if an “appropriate judicial order” enters regarding the sale. So, what happens if a lottery winner enters into an agreement with a factoring company to sell future payment rights, and the company provides an “advance payment” to the lottery winner – but then the company fails to obtain an “appropriate judicial…

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