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Friday, January 17th
While the Stone Street Capital website is adorned with various cartoon cows engaging in activities one might need money for (fixing a car, going to college, tending a broken bone), there is little that is cute or frivolous about selling your structured settlement, or the process that should go into your decision to do so. Peering below Stone Street Capital's cutesy veneer reveals a company with some unscrupulous practices.
Well designed website...
Everything on Stone Street Capital's website is designed to be friendly and simple. They have a "free quote” tool and a user interface that is cute and pleasant to navigate. We love cows, and their cartoon figures are fun to see.
...that hides their business practices
However, that cuteness belies their business practices. Their "free quote” tool is actually just a form that will give your express written consent to have Stone Street Capital contact you with texts and an auto dialer. The cartoonish figures downplay the seriousness of selling a structured settlement, in order to get you to give them your contact information. When compared to the websites of other companies on our list that offer a wealth of educational materials and wise recommendations, Stone Street Captial's pleasant but misleading user interface is more like a well-dressed con man: meant to lull you into a false sense of security more than anything else.
Suspicious reviews
While Stone Street Capital has an "A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau, 22 of the 24 reviews about Stone Street Capital on the Better Business Bureau were all submitted in a one month period of 2021, are usually one sentence, occasionally misspelled, and offer no specifics about their financial arrangement or structured settlements. Are they real? To us, these favorable reviews appear suspicious to say the least.
Fake scratch-offs sent in the mail
Diving into Stone Street Capital's customer outreach history reveals some very unsavory business practices. It seems that as part of their promotional efforts for structured settlement purchasing, they mailed fake scratch off tickets to potential customers with prepaid Visa Cards enclosed. The activation of the visa cards was predicated on calling Stone Street Capital, listening to a sales pitch, and receiving a quote from them. We were very disappointed to discover that their business practices involve hooking customers with a facsimile of gambling. Dealing with a structured settlement is a serious and complicated business. We feel that these are simply not the actions of a company that takes your personal best interests seriously.
Better options available
Take our advice and go with a company that doesn't send fake scratch off tickets to people whose information was likely mined from a public registry of structured settlement recipients. Selling all or part of your structured settlement is an activity to be taken with an overabundance of caution and the backing of an independent legal counsel or financial advisor. As such, a company with even a hint of shady practices is in no way worth your time or energy.
Well, it's a critical question, and one that should be explored with care. Many receive a structured settlement as an annuity paid over a long period of time in compensation for injury or malpractice. While the stable income of a structured settlement can be a necessary key to financial security, many people are often left in a bind when they need money for a sudden expense or emergency, and are unable to procure the collateral for a loan.
That's where structured settlement buyers come in. These companies offer a single lump sum of cash in exchange for your monthly payments, giving you the up-front capital you need to manage a crisis, or make a needed purchase/investment.
It almost goes without saying that you should take care when you sell your structured settlement. While there are reputable buyers out there, many companies appear out of nowhere, or engage in less-than-reputable business practices. As the sale of a structured settlement is a major decision, a bit of careful investigation to determine the quality of the buyer can go a long way towards a transaction you'll be happy with.
Typically the sale of a structured settlement requires that you appear in court to talk to a judge in order to determine that you understand the particulars of the sale of your structured settlement, and that the sale is in your best interest. While potentially annoying, your court appearance is a critical step in the process, and something that directly protects you as a consumer.
Before this step, companies are required to advise you in writing that you can hire independent legal counsel to review your sale in court with you. This is strongly recommended, as legal counsel and financial advice can give you power and leverage in your structured settlement sale, making it so you get a better deal, and potentially earning multiple-thousands more from the sale of your settlement. If you sign this away to another person or a company, they may represent their own best interests, rather than yours.
So, which structured settlement buyers are worth your time? As you investigate the options, here are some tips for you to keep in mind:
At Top Consumer Reviews, we want to make sure that our readers are well-equipped to navigate the sometimes murky waters of the structured settlement industry. We've gathered the best companies we could find, and ranked them based on their overall reputation and business practices. As you shop around for the best deal in the sale of your structured settlement, you should feel comfortable using our curated list as a starting point for finding a fair and honest buyer.
Select any 2 Structured Settlement Buyers to compare them head to head