We Represent FIP Investors
If you invested in Future Income Payments (a/k/a Structured Cash Flows) and stopped receiving your monthly payments, we will fight to get your money back. We are fighting on behalf of investors across the country that were put into FIP contracts through their advisors, agents, Field Marketing Organizations (FMO’s), and companies like Live Abundant, ShurWest, or Hidden Wealth Solution.
We are already in discussions with defense firms that are representing advisors and agents around the country on behalf of our current clients. If you invested in FIP, Contact Us Today by calling 504-523-2434 or by filling out an online Contact Form for a FREE Consultation. Concerns about investment fraud are serious, and we are committed to fighting on behalf of investors.
Future Income Payments Securities Fraud Investigation | FIP Lawsuits
If you invested in Future Income Payments (“FIP”), the securities attorneys at Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane, APLC may be able to help you recover any losses. If you were advised to invest in FIP, we are investigating claims against the sales agents that sold and/or recommended FIP “investments.” Also, these FIP “investments” were typically coupled with a purchase of a life insurance policy. If that was the case for you, we will fight to recover your premiums.
According to FIP’s website, they claim to be “the industry leader and an innovator in buying and selling secondary market pension cash flows, often referred to as Structured Cash Flows.” However, state officials in multiple states have issued cease and desist orders, accusing FIP of issuing loans without a license and disguising them in “sales agreements.” However, multiple state regulators have agreed that FIP’s pension sales are actually loans.
The state of New York shut down FIP for “fraudulent and illegal practices.” Additionally, New York fined FIP for $500,000, ordered FIP to cease operations and repay collected interest charges for allegedly “operating illegally in the state” and charging customers up to 183% interest. Additionally, since being shut down in California, Future Income Payments (FIP, LLC) last operated out of Nevada.
Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane is currently investigating claims for anyone who has invested in Future Income Payments (FIP, LLC). If you or someone you know invested in a Structured Cash Flow like Future Income Payments, Contact Us Today by calling 504-523-2434 or by filling out an online Contact Form for a FREE Consultation. Concerns about possible broker or advisor misconduct and investment fraud are serious, and we are committed to fighting on behalf of investors.
Lawsuits Mount Against FIP for Illegal High-Interest Loan Scheme
Embattled Future Income Payments, LLC continues to be sued for an illegal high-interest loan scheme that targeted the pensions of retired veterans and public servants.
Future Income Payments (“FIP”) targeted pensioners — often elderly veterans with military pensions and public servants with pensions — with illegal loans disguised as “sales” that could provide purchasers with a quick lump sum of cash, according to one lawsuit.
In most cases, pensioners thought they were making a sale of a portion of their pension, which is an asset, in a one-time transaction. As it turned out, it was a loan against the pension with payback “interest rates that were sky high,” said Michael Kelly, spokesman for the Virginia Office of the Attorney General.
The high-interest loans carried rates as high as 183 percent,
which far exceeds the applicable 12 percent annual interest cap mandated by State law, according to one complaint. Thus, it is alleged that FIP engaged in lending practices that violated State Consumer Protection Acts.
“These companies and their owner took advantage of [consumers] who earned their pensions through years of dedication to our nation’s armed forces and as civil servants,” one Attorney General said in a statement. “We’re going to do everything we can to get veterans and other retirees their money back, and to wipe out the debt remaining on any illegal loans.”
These men and women served [our country], and they deserve better than to have their life savings drained by an illegal, but cleverly disguised, predatory loan.
According to Future Income Payments (“FIP”) CEO, Scott Kohn, “FIP is in the process of agreeing to cease and desist orders or has already entered cease and desist orders in the States listed below. The terms of these settlements place a ceiling on the amount FIP can collect.”
States/Jurisdictions Where FIP Entered into Cease and Desist Orders
- Washington
- California
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Indiana
- North Carolina
- New York
- Massachusetts
- Pennsylvania
States/Jurisdictions with Pending Agency Action or Investigation
- Oregon
- Nevada
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Connecticut
- South Carolina
- Maryland
- Pennsylvania
- California
As a reminder, Purchaser understood and acknowledged that there were multiple risks associated with the purchase of the Purchased Asset. These risks included, FIP being unable to continue collections, breach, bankruptcy, obligator failure, prohibition of law, characterization of sale transactions as loans. There was no guarantee Purchaser would receive all payments,” Kohn said.
Structured Cash Flows | Investment Fraud
Structured Cash Flows, or Pension Viaticals, are recommended and promoted to investors as being preferable to traditional life settlements. The sales pitch is that Structured Cash Flows investors begin to receive a return on their investment prior to the death of the seller.
With the purchase of a structured settlement, investors pay a lump sum in exchange for the assignment of the right to collect payments due to the seller under a pension, disability plan, or other employee and government benefit programs. Thus, the investor plans to receive continued payments for the life of the seller, the seller gets an upfront lump sum payment, and the middleman (FIP) gets a fee on the transaction.
Most pension plans are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA is the federal law that sets the standards and regulates pension plans. However, this federal law prohibits many pensions and benefits from being assigned.
Therefore, many of the sellers of pension plans receive the lump sum and continue to collect the pension payments, claiming that the agreement with the investor violates ERISA. However, the middleman (FIP) still gets the upfront fee and the investor is left holding the bag.
Attorney Generals Suing Future Income Payments
Multiple Attorney Generals from around the country are suing Future Income Payments LLC (“FIP”), a Nevada company, alleging that it targeted elderly veterans and retired civil servants in a scheme that masquerades high-interest predatory loans as “pension sales,” according to one lawsuit filed in Virginia’s Hampton Circuit Court.
These lawsuits seek relief for “some of the most vulnerable” consumers who were “forced by financial distress to take out a loan.” Those people have been solicited by FIP since at least June 2011.
Many of the lawsuits also name FIP owner Scott Kohn individually. These lawsuits allege that FIP violated state and federal consumer protection laws while using language misrepresenting its actions to disguise its tactics.
In one exhibit, a veteran agreed to “purchase,” or borrow, $5,500 – which included a $300 “set up” fee. In return, the veteran agreed to “sell,” or repay, $682 monthly for five years. In total, the veteran agreed to repay FIP $35,420 for a loan of $5,200, for an annual percentage rate of 137 percent. Many states have an APR interest cap on installment loans of 12 percent.
FIP has faced scrutiny and multiple lawsuits in the past. However, it appears that FIP’s conduct has continued over the years.
FREE CONSULTATION | 504-523-2434
Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane is currently investigating claims for anyone who invested in Future Income Payments (FIP, LLC). If you or someone you know invested in a Structured Cash Flow like Future Income Payments, Contact Us Today by calling 504-523-2434 or by filling out an online Contact Form for a FREE Consultation. Concerns about possible broker misconduct and investment fraud are serious, and we are committed to fighting on behalf of investors.
Yes. Please call us or use our contact form to request a Free Case Evaluation. We have a national team of attorneys and staff who look forward to speaking with you.
Typically, we represent clients on contingency fee agreements. If we take your case under a contingency fee arrangement, you won’t owe our firm any legal fees unless we are able to recover money for you.
Our contingency fee agreements are usually based on a percentage of the amount we recover for our clients. The contingency fee amount is determined by the type of case, our estimate of how long it will take to resolve your case, and our estimate of the litigation costs we will advance in your case. Each engagement agreement includes the details of the fee arrangement. Questions about our fee agreements are welcomed and encouraged.
In most litigation matters, it is extremely difficult – practically impossible – to predict how long it will take to resolve a particular case. Every case is different, and we will do our best to provide you with an estimate based on your case and our experience with similar cases. Moreover, we will do our best to keep you updated and manage expectations along the way.
We handle cases that change lives. Contact us today for a FREE consultation.
