Fast talking sales people in call centers and companies that call far to frequently trying to pressure the seller into signing a contract are way up there. However, the biggest pitfalls are in the purchase agreement itself. Most people do not really understand what the discount rate means and whether they are getting a reasonable amount for their future payments. Most people who need to sell their structured settlement are in dire need of the money and do not pay attention to the language of the document.

Some of the dangerous language often directs the entire structured settlement payments be paid to the purchasing company and then they will send the portion of the payment they did not purchase to the seller. At the very least that delays the payments, but if the purchasing company goes into bankruptcy the repercussions could be disastrous.