The CFPB filed a lawsuit against Access Funding, LLC and other defendants for “reap[ing] immense profits” from lead poisoning victims, “many of whom were mentally impaired” and who were “usually African American.” Access Funding “persuad[ed] [the victims] to sell large payouts for a fraction of their value under false pretenses.” Applicable laws required that customers “receive the counsel of an independent, professional adviser.” In Access’ case, “On almost every case [they] filed, it was the same lawyer, Charles E. Smith, who advised recipients.” The lawsuit alleged that Access Funding paid Smith for these services, making him not an “independent” advisor. Many customers received “lump-sum payments” that amounted to “25 or 30 percent” of the settlements they would have otherwise received.

• On November 21, 2016, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against Access Funding, LLC, among other defendants, in the US District court for the District of Maryland in the court’s Baltimore Division. [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Access Funding, LLC, Access Holding, LLC, Reliance Funding, LLC, Lee Jundanian, Raffi Boghosian, Michael Borkowski, and Charles Smith, case no. 1:16-cv-03759-JFM, filed 11/21/16]

• According to the lawsuit, the defendants “reaped immense profits” from lead poisoning victims in Baltimore. The CFPB accused Access Funding of “aggressively pursuing” the victims, “many of whom were mentally impaired” and “persuad[ed] them to sell large payouts for a fraction of their value under false pretenses.” [Terrence McCoy, “Federal agency accuses settlement-purchasing company of violating Consumer Protection Act”, The Washington Post, 11/21/16]

• The Maryland Attorney General had sued Access Funding, having accused them of committing fraud, in May of 2016. [Terrence McCoy, “Federal agency accuses settlement-purchasing company of violating Consumer Protection Act”, The Washington Post, 11/21/16]

• Access predominately operated in Maryland, and Maryland law requires those seeking to sell a structured settlement to companies like Access “to receive the counsel of an independent, professional adviser … On almost every case Access filed, it was the same lawyer, Charles E. Smith, who advised recipients. Court filings allege that Smith had various business and personal ties with Access Funding executives. The federal agency says Smith ‘was paid directly by Access Funding for his purported . . . services’ and deceived recipients into thinking they were getting independent advice when they were not.” [Terrence McCoy, “Federal agency accuses settlement-purchasing company of violating Consumer Protection Act”, The Washington Post, 11/21/16]

• According to The Washington Post Editorial Board, Access Funding’s strategy involved “comb[ing] court records with the goal of targeting unsophisticated Baltimoreans, usually African Americans who as children had been victims of lead-paint poisoning. Often, they suffered cognitive impairment; frequently, they were hard up for cash; nearly always, they were unsuspecting.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, “A scam to rip off the cognitively impaired deserves condemnation in court”, The Washington Post, 11/29/16]

• Customers would receive “lump-sum payments” and in return, payments to customers were “25 to 30 percent of the present value of the future payments they were forfeiting.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, “A scam to rip off the cognitively impaired deserves condemnation in court”, The Washington Post, 11/29/16]