Have you recently encountered financial struggles and searched the Internet for “fast cash” options? If you are a retired public employee, civil service worker, or military veteran who was recently offered money for selling your federal pension plan or income stream, you could be the next target of a growing loan-sharking scheme hitting the Internet today.
The Offer
The tagline on the company websites and advertisements promise “Money Now” and look like an easy way to receive fast cash in exchange for the purchase of a federal pension plan. However, these companies fail to disclose that this new financial contract is really a high-interest loan and charges interest rates that are more than double, or even triple, the amount of the cash advance originally received. For example, to receive a cash advance of $5,000, you could end up agreeing to pay up to $25,000 in interest over the term of your loan, which is usury! Companies, such as Future Income Payments, LLC; Pension Funding, LLC; Pension Income, LLC; and Pension, Annuities t Settlements, are offering such “pension advances,” a transaction in which retirees receive a lump sum cash payment for selling all or a portion of their pension payments.
What is Usury?
All states have usury laws, which regulate the amount of interest that may be lawfully charged on a monetary loan and prevent creditors from deceiving potential customers about hidden interest rates and fees. If a creditor attempts to charge an unfair interest rate higher than that regulated value, or has failed to make certain disclosures about the terms of the loan, the loan is deemed “usurious” and illegal and may then be cancelled and declared unenforceable by a court. Additionally, the interest paid on the contract will be returned to the victimized borrower—sometimes even at double or triple the amount as compensation for the legal violation against him or her, depending on the state’s law.
Additional Legal Protections
Federal law also protects citizens of all states from these deceptive and predatory lending practices:
- The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) provides that companies must disclose the amount financed, the finance charge, the annual percentage rate, the total number and amount of payments “clearly conspicuously” in writing so that the borrower can make an informed decision regarding the credit being offered.
- The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prevents abusive and harassing debt collection practices and allows consumers with remedies for any violations of this law.
- The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) prohibits any company from conditioning the extension of credit on a borrower’s repayment by preauthorized EFTs, such that the borrower is unable to stop repayment on a loan.
These protections ensure that all companies nationwide must abide by certain restrictions on monetary lending and protect individual rights of all American citizens by making it a federal crime to engage in deceptive loan practices.
How to Get Help
If you have recently been contacted to sell your pension or other retirement income stream by – or have already “sold” your pension to – any of the companies listed below (or any other company not listed), we may be able to help you:
- Future Income Payments, LLC
- Pension Funding, LLC
- Pension Income, LLC
- Pension, Annuities t Settlements LLC
- Voyager Financial Group
- LumpSum Pension Advance
- Structured Investments Co., LLC
- SoBell Corp.
- Advance Pension Strategies
- Rapid Pension Advances
- LumpSum4Pensions
- Lump Sum Pension Purchasing
- Sell My Annuity
- Bradley Financial Group
Learn more about complaints against companies that disguise usurious loans through promises of providing fast money through the sale of your pension or retirement benefits by clicking here.
The attorneys at Wites & Rogers are available to answer any questions you may have or to schedule a free consultation to determine whether you are entitled to money relief. Contact our offices online or by phone at 866-277-8631 or 954-933-4400.
