Over the past year, Maryland has been front and center with regard to lawsuits focusing on the structured settlement secondary market.  Access Funding, LLC has been the subject of a lawsuit brought by the Maryland Attorney General, Brian Frosh.  A civil suit was also filed against Access Funding, alleging, among other things, unfair business practices.  Maryland has actively sought additional protections for structured settlement annuitants, including registration requirements for transferees.  Ultimately, better business practices are better for buyers, sellers, and investors. But, this story isn’t finished – there is surely more to come.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed suit in federal court in Baltimore accusing Access Funding of violations of the federal Consumer Protection Act.  Access Funding (now Reliance Funding) is a purchaser of structured settlement payment streams whose alleged predatory business practices involving people who had been poisoned by lead paint as children were exposed by investigative reporter Terrence McCoy of The Washington Post last summer.  Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY); Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md); Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md); Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) all praised the CFPB effort to protect consumers who may have been victims of financial fraud by companies in the structured settlement industry.

This federal lawsuit follows on the heels of a similar lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh in May, 2016.  The state court action filed by Attorney General Frosh is pending in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Frosh has pledged to work to “prevent vulnerable Marylanders from having their money taken from them through illegal practices.”