News and Tips on structured settlement transfers.

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23
Dec 13

The Possible Problems of Selling Your Structured Settlement

After suffering injuries or damages, you may be awarded a structured settlement to ease financial difficulties and help relieve any pain or inconvenience you might have endured.  Although, you may discover that your structured settlement payments aren’t meeting your needs and may considering selling them. While you can sell your settlement in part or in whole, it isn’t a simple process. Some problems can arise, but if you know what to do, you can avoid them.

Appearing before the Judge

Many people don’t realize that in order to sell their payments, or “transfer” them, they must go back before a judge. Deciding whether or not the sale is actually in your best interest is the judge’s job, and they will consider many criteria when making this decision. The judge will look at your financial situation or circumstances and base their decision on that. And, he will deny your transfer if your immediate need isn’t proven to their satisfaction.

Examining your Offer

The company making your offer can also be a factor the judge looks at when determining your best interests. Your transfer will be denied if the judge decides the terms they are offering are not fair to you. What terms will the judge consider to be fair and in your best interest? In this case, the judge’s job is to make sure you aren’t ripped off, and that most of the funds awarded to you actually go to you and aren’t lost to the buying company. The amount varies from company to company (which is why it pays to comparison shop when looking for a buyer), but many times you can get up to 90% of the money you are owed.

Hire a Professional

You may not realize it, but having a competent lawyer on your side can be important if you are considering selling your structured payments.  Competent counsel from a lawyer can give you an idea of whether your offer will be approved or denied by a judge. They can also stop a predatory company from taking advantage of your situation and ripping you off.

Compare Companies

Comparing offers from competing companies is the best way to ensure you get the best deal, and an expert settlement broker can get you offers from many companies in a short amount of time, allowing you to choose the best company for your financial needs.


18
Nov 13

Why Lump Sum Payments are Avoided by the Courts

Injury due to the negligence of an individual or company may entitle you to a monetary settlement to help ease pain and suffering, and provide you with the means of paying off your expensive medical or legal bills. When you go to court, a judge will hear both sides of the case, weigh the facts carefully, and then make a decision based on the information gained during the court proceedings. This can often result in an award of a very large sum of money. And though it would be nice to get all that money in one whack, chances are good that it won’t happen in quite that way. Many times, judges simply won’t award money in a large lump sum.

Cause and Effect

Most of the time, a court will avoid paying out these large sums at once because of the effect it can have on a defendant’s financial situation. A huge lump sum, paid all at once, can ruin an individual and put companies out of business, affecting not just one person, but many, many people negatively. This can also prevent you from ever collecting the amount owed you through the settlement.

Advantages of Structured Payments

Though it can be good to get your money in a lump sum payment, there are benefits for courts who avoid handing out large settlements in one lump sum. By setting up a structured payment plan, courts can be assured you won’t blow through your award in a very short time, guaranteeing you a reliable income that can sustain you for the long term.

Another Option

If a court does decide that structured payments would be better for you in the long run, you still have an option if you feel you have a definite need for a lump sum cash payment. There are companies who will buy your settlement for a percentage (selling your settlement or annuity will never get you the full amount of your award), granting you access to more of your money than you would normally receive by monthly payments.

Facing these challenges is always better with a trusted and honest broker to assist you when starting the process of selling your settlement. Utilizing a broker can give you the advantage you need to keep yourself on a solid financial footing, and give you what you need in order to move ahead with your dreams and goals for the future.


30
Jan 13

Can a Structured Settlement Transfer be Blocked by the Court?

Many people rightfully think that the decision of how to best use their resources, like money, is theirs to make. This is especially true of annuities and structured settlements, although that might not actually be true. Many states have laws in place dictating how structured settlements are dealt with, especially transfers or sales. Can a court really block the transfer of a structured settlement? The most honest reply to that question is yes, the court can deny the transfer of a settlement, but there’s a little more to it than that.

A Little Investigating

You have to know about the history of the structured settlement brokerage industry to really know what’s going on. The predatory nature of some companies has caused many states and consumer advocates to hold a low opinion of structured settlement transfers. Preying on the desperate and needy, these companies convince them that the best option for their financial situation is selling their structured settlements.

Most states, however, now have laws on the books to protect consumers from these types of predatory companies. One of the immediate benefits of this is that all transfers or sales must go before a judge, who will determine if the transfer is in the payee’s best interests. In many cases, the judge denies the transfer, not allowing the sale to take place.

The Criteria for Denying a Transfer

The reasons for denying the sale or transfer of a structured settlement are many and varied. One of the most common reasons is that allowing the sale or transfer is “not in the payee’s best interests”. This can mean virtually anything, although there does seem to be mitigating factors. For example, there’s a good chance that the court will reject the transfer if the funding firm recommends that the payee seek legal counsel before entering into a transfer arrangement. The proposal will then be rejected if the court does not find proof of a real financial need on behalf of the payee.

Additionally, if the transfer is not deemed “fair and reasonable” the court may reject it. For example, chances are very good that they will not approve of the proposal if the funding firm offers a payout of only 50% of the total payments for the life of the settlement.

It is easy to see that there are many factors that could lead a court to reject the transfer of a structured settlement. Showing a real financial need, and working with a firm that’s offering fair terms, is your best defense against a court denying your sale.

If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.


1
Jul 11

Structured Settlement Sales: What Do You Mean, I Can’t Sell?!

So, you’ve found yourself in a position where due to the cost of a medical procedure, the need to take care of credit card debt, a possible mortgage foreclosure, or any of a dozen other reasons; where you have finally decided to look into selling your structured settlement payments. As you are browsing through your documents regarding your structured settlement while you begin to prepare for the sale you stumble on to some disturbing language in your settlement- an example of the language that may be contained inside your annuity policy or settlement agreement would be something like this-

“none of the periodic payments may be accelerated, deferred, increased or decreased and may not be anticipated, sold, assigned or encumbered.”

What does that mean, anyway? First of all, that would be called  “anti-assignment or anti-sale language”, and secondly it is often put in there to let you know the annuity payments cannot be sold or transferred. But, wait. It’s your money. What happens if the Settlement Agreement has anti-sale or anti-assignment language? Does that mean you can sell your money? That you can’t sell your structured settlement payments? It sure sounds like it, but no- you can still sell, it’s just become a little more difficult.

What Happens If Your Annuity Policy Includes Anti-Assignment Language?

Many annuity policies and settlement agreements usually include anti-assignment or anti-sale language. Even though this language is included within your settlement documents, you are still able to sell your future structured settlement payments!

Selling the rights to your structured settlement payments requires you to receive a court order in which a judge will review and approve the sale of the annuity payments.
Most states have a Structured Settlement Protection Act which states that a judge must approve the transfer of such payments. Since you’ll be required to go via the court system anyway to make your sale, you can explain to the judge about your situation in regards to the language of your settlement. Remember, a judge has the power to approve the sale even if anti-assignment language exists in the Settlement Agreement or Annuity Policy since his ruling will supersede any and all agreements made on the terms of your structured settlement payments. It is important to remember that a judge will only approve the sale of your payment rights if the transaction is in your best interest.

If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.


7
Aug 10

A Marketplace is the Best Place to go for Liquidating Structured Settlements

Structured Settlements are meant to be residual payments paid out over a period of time. Some people count on receiving those payments on a guaranteed scheduled time frame. However, when the actions of life happen, as they often do, it can be an asset to cash out these payments into one lump sum. There are a number of ways to do this. One of the best ways is by utilizing a marketplace.

What is a marketplace

A marketplace is much like it sounds. It is a place that will market your request for cashing out, or liquidating, your structured settlement. Instead of receiving several payments, a person will receive final one lump sum. The marketplace enables people to list their request and have it viewed by multiple companies.

Let the bidding begin

A marketplace is like ebay on steroids. A request for cashing out a structured settlement is placed. The listing is then viewed by several structured settlement factoring companies and investors. The companies then enter into a feeding frenzy of bids for that settlement. The winning company’s bid is the one the person will end up with. The winning company will then complete the process by taking the transaction through the court system and providing the final lump sum payment to the tort victim.

What settlements can a marketplace list

There are certain payment streams that can be listed in the QuoteMeAPrice.com Marketplace. QuoteMeAPrice.com has buyers for structured settlements, annuities, lottery payments, and mortgage notes.

Benefits of marketplace

The marketplace offers a quick way to get cash for your structured settlement, note, lottery payments, or annuity. The recipient doesn’t need to be harassed by several companies, all the bidding is done in one place. This means less stress, the recipient saves money and headaches.

The marketplace is a great option for people seeking to cash out a structured settlement. They offer peace of mind by receiving the most cash for your future payments.

If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.

Let Companies Compete to Buy your Structured Settlement!

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