The 3 most common mistakes and/or pitfalls that sellers of structured settlement payment streams often make is first, that a sale of a payment stream is a fast and simple procedure. In truth, every transfer of a future payment stream is actually a sophisticated financial transaction that also requires court approval, and sometimes requires independent professional advice. Second, that all purchasers are the same; when the truth is that the ethics, customer service and business practices between purchasers are vastly different. Most important, that the interest/discount rate charged on a payment stream is standard across the industry (much like a home loan). But again, the quite the opposite is often true.