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New York Appellate Court Discusses the Structured Settlement Protection Act

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This case is a special proceeding pursuant to the General Obligations Law or the Structured Settlement Protection Act. The case is being heard in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in New York County. The petitioner of the case is seeking judicial approval to assign a portion of the structured settlement annuity he received in a personal injury action from 1991 to another petitioner. The respondents of the case do not oppose this action.

Case Background

The petitioner is the recipient of a structured settlement annuity that was issued by the respondents pursuant to a settlement agreement from a personal injury action that took place in 1991. The petitioner receives $750 per month in guaranteed annuity payments from the first of May in 1992 through the 1st of April, 2017. The settlement also provides lump sum payments in the amounts of $10,000 to be received on the first of May, 1997, $15,000 on the first of May, 2002, $25,000 on the first of May, 2007, $50,000 on the first of May 2012, and $80,000 on the first of May in 2017.

In an affidavit to support the petition the petitioner has stated that he lives at 570 Grand Street in apartment 2003H, in New York, New York. His wife and son live there with him. He is employed as an engineer and assigned to jobs on a temporary contractual basis. At the end of December, 2007, his employment contract was up and he received $1755 per month in unemployment benefits. His wife works as a travel consultant and earns around $50,000 per year.

The petitioner sold a portion of his settlement agreement to a third party in return for a quick infusion of cash. He executed two transactions assigning his monthly payments from some point in August of 1999 through August of 2014 as well as his lump sum payments of $15,000 from 2002, $25,000 from 2007, and $50,000 from 2012 for an undisclosed amount of money. The petitioner states that he used this money to fund his training and education as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

The petitioner entered into an absolute assignment in December of 2007. In this agreement he agreed to pay $502.61 due to him on the first of August, 2014 and 32 monthly payments of $750 each beginning on the first of September, 2014 through the first of April of 2017 and the lump sum payment of $75,000 due to him on the first of May, 2017.

Case Discussion and Decision

The petitioner intends to sell a portion of his settlement worth $63,683.60 for the present value of $29,084.72. When the math is settled the court finds that the petitioner would only be receiving 29.13% of the amount of annuity payments. Essentially, the petitioner will only be receiving a small fraction of the amount he is actually set to receive.

The court finds that this sale is not fair and reasonable and therefore cannot allow it to proceed. For this reason, the court is denying the petition and the proceeding is dismissed.

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