Class Action Suit Announcement
July 28, 2015

Knowingly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a kind of gambling.  Some annuitants will give in to constant phone solicitation and give the offending company what they want.  The downside for the TCPA offender is that someone may not give in, and worse, will fight back.  On July 21 st , 2015, in West Palm Beach, FL, a class action suit was brought against Novation Capital / Novation Ventures for alleged violations of the TCPA, including the use of a “robodialer” to assist in the facilitation of sales calls.  In other words, the party has ended; annuitants have had enough.  Someone is likely to receive a swift slap.

We are not at all surprised that a suit of this kind finally happened.  We’re just surprised it took this long!  It certainly seemed inevitable to us.  If enough annuitants are pushed around, and enough educational material is out there for them to find – it’s just a matter of time before annuitants stand up for themselves.  And really, who can blame them?  How many of us just love speaking with telemarketers?  We don’t.  No one does.  Even Congress, an institution known for its glacial pacing in all things, almost unanimously agreed, with the passing of the TCPA and its subsequent amendments, that frequent phone calls to one’s phone by companies with no prior business relationship and absolutely no consent by the recipient is unwarranted, undesirable, and constitutes a violation of personal privacy.  Therefore, violations of the TCPA are punishable by up to $1,500 per phone call.  The penalty for knowingly defying this law, if caught, can be severe.

We at Bentzen Financial make no effort to hide the message to promote ourselves as the small, referral based company, lone-wolfing the straight-and-narrow in this business.  We pride ourselves in being alone in our unwavering stance for no high pressure sales calls, no big-time advertising, and absolutely no court scraping.  We help annuitants when they want it, not when we’ve called them enough times that they finally cave in.  Not harassing them with high pressure sales calls is a given to us.  Like you, we will follow the progress of this case with great interest.

SHARE ARTICLE

Our Recent Blogs

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2025
It’s a time to be thankful! We’d like to show our appreciation for everyone out there who, like us, is focused on crafting the best solution to our clients’ needs. Moreover, the season demands we take the time to acknowledge a few things. First, and the hard work NSSTA has done to ensure greater fairness in the factoring process. Work in Georgia and Florida to ensure aggressive poaching has been nullified is commendable and should be the standard everywhere. Likewise, a tip of the hat to Texas, whose personal identifying information (PII) protections guarantees that annuitants don’t get harassed ad nauseum from the moment the ink dries on their structured settlement agreements or when they’ve made the decision to cash something out. We’d also like to thank the work of those who go unrecognized too often: the IPAs who help both us and the courts with guaranteeing that our more vulnerable annuitants get the proper added input and security. It’s not required in all states, but we’re sure to use them as often as we can. The best consultation doesn’t just come from us, and we know plenty of clients need that added layer of protection to feel comfortable. Where some may try to lead annuitants away, knowing full well that the deal is a result of their aggressive telemarketing or clever jingles, we know we can trust you and your referrals. They wouldn’t be doing this unless they needed to. Finally, we give thanks to you. Enjoy the turkey, good company, and inevitable food coma. 

Kudos to NSSTA & Happy Halloween!

November 3, 2025
“Happy Halloween!”

No Plan is Perfect

September 19, 2025
Factoring isn’t the boogeyman and structures are not perfect. The best structured settlements are beautiful, but don’t get attached to them. Life happens, and as such it’s life, not factoring, that is the enemy of a structured settlement. The best laid plans, like the best policies, with the best intentions, can’t s

The Loan = Factoring Transaction Myth

October 11, 2022
Myth: You will lose money by factoring, so take out a loan instead. Reality: Whether you factor annuity payments or take a loan, there is a cost to obtaining money, but many people believe that factoring involves “losing” money. This misconception comes from comparing the cumulative future payments with the present value lump sum payment offered by the factoring company. For instance, if an annuitant has 200 monthly payments of $1,000 , the cumulative payments would be $200,000 . In this case, a factoring transaction might net the annuitant approximately $100,000 or 50% of the cumulative total. This is not “losing” money, it is the result of obtaining future payments early at a 10% discount rate. If instead the annuitant took a $100,000 loan at 10% and paid it back over 200 months , the total cost including interest would also be $200,000 (assuming the annuitant had sufficient credit to get the loan). A loan requires credit, collateral, origination fees, and carries the risk of late fees and foreclosure if payments are not made when due. In the factoring scenario, the annuitant would need to wait 200 months (almost 17 years) to collect the full $200,000 , during which time the equivalent present value of the payments is continually diminishing due to inflation. A dollar will not have the same purchasing power in 17 years as it has today.
Show More
SEE ALL ARTICLES