by Barbara Nevins Taylor
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet; Shakespeare wrote.
By the same token a pension advance company that changes it’s name and continues to do the same thing is pretty much the same company and raises the same alarm bells for people who think about borrowing money against their pensions.
We reported about Darren Scott in our story Pension Advance Plans Take a Big Bite. Darren thought he was borrowing $5,000 on his pension and wound up owing over $24,000. He tells us now that he received an email from Pension Annuities and Settlements, the company he borrowed from, announcing a name change.
They wrote: “Pension Annuities and Settlements is pleased to announce the new name of our company, Future Income Payments LLC. This is simply a name change for the consistency of branding. Our Management Team, Processing, Collections Team, methods of payment by you, etc., remain the same.
We are not a new company, we are the same company with a new face.”
The email goes on to remind Darren and others that he, and they, are still obligated to pay the debt to this company, by whatever name it calls itself.
The old face of the company was attracting a good deal of scrutiny.
We recently reported, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Consumer Services Division filed charges against Pensions, Annuities and Settlements, LLC (PDF), and Pension Funding, LLC (PDF). The called the companies unlicensed lenders and accused them of making illegal loans with excessive interest rates that ranged as high a 129.9 percent
Washington’s DFI Director of Consumer Services Deborah Bortner said, “Loans that are made by unlicensed companies with interest rates exceeding the legal limit are particularly harmful when large loan payments cut into retirees’ limited monthly pension income.”
And on the East Coast, as ConsumerMojo previously reported, New York and other states are investigating pension advance companies. New York State subpoenaed records from Pension Annuities and Settlements.
So stay tuned.
I am a retired federal worker and unfortunately I have also been caught in the pension advance Web that has been woven by this company Future Payments LLC. I received a loan of 1,750 and am scheduled for payments of 350 $ a month for five yrs. I hope something can be done to relieve those of us suffering at the hands of these unscrupulous individuals and to protect those still at risk to be caught in their unethical and probably illegal scam. Please keep us posted as to what is being done or what we can do about our situation.
Hello my name is Thomas and I am a retired disabled veteran, I got caught up in the trap of getting one of these Pension Advances due to losing my job and needing money to help my daughter through college. I applied with Pension Annuities and Settlements, formerly known as Future Income Payments LLC. They threatened me if I did not pay the over $800 a month payment that was needed, initially they wanted an insurance policy but they dropped that requirement after I couldn’t pay the monthly payments on that. I have had my truck repossessed due to not being able to make those payments due to the high payment of this advance. Where can I go to submit a complaint against this company and who can I contact in order to get from under this highly illegal debt. They even had a lawyer contact me and threaten me if I didn’t pay and I had to start paying through that particular lawyers office instead of them.
I started this advance when I was living in California. I now live in ohio but I’m thinking since it was taken out in California I should make my complaint there. Please contact me with any information that you might have at: graytc718@gmail.com
Thank you very much!