Sometimes the Request to Sell is Denied
There are times, though, when the judge will deny your sale. It is difficult to say exactly why judges deny sales, though we touch on some of these reasons throughout the guide. The truth is, a thorough search of the internet, discussions with companies, and reviews of court cases still shows that there are many different reasons for denial, and each depends on the unique situation. However, our research showed that the most common reason for denial of a sale was when the judge felt that the cost of the sale was too high.
For example, in 2012 a woman tried to sell her payments to J.G. Wentworth. The judge turned her down. She was trying to sell payments totally $130,000 and had been offered just $15,000 for those payments. The judge said that this was far too much of a loss and denied.
A similar case found Alison Grieve denied selling her payments. This was because the payments, totaling $104,800 were going to be purchased for a mere $39,862. The court felt this was an unethical discount rate and denied. The company she was trying to sell to was Singer Asset Financial.
The list of denied court cases like this goes on. Many of these cases involve J.G. Wentworth, but this makes sense as they are also a structured settlement purchaser who attempts to buy the most settlements. No legitimate, reliable documentation exists to say exactly what company gets denied the most. But J.G. does seem to be denied… a lot.
Follow your instincts!
Often our stomach or heart know more about what is right than our brains do. If you feel “good” about selling your settlement, and you feel “good” about the company that you have chosen, then go with it and hopefully things will turn out well. However, if you feel uncomfortable at any point, worried that selling is not the right decision, or bothered by the behavior of the company that you are selling to, then stop the process. You can always stop, keep your payments, and think about selling again in the future when it feels like the right thing to do.