Class Action Lawsuits

First of all, let me say that anyone who has been in any way hurt or injured by any other party and settled through a class action lawsuit, disregard this article. I am more interested in the little frivolous lawsuits that award pitiful amounts to offended parties who most likely had no idea they were offended.

There are habitual class action participators and then there are the lucky ones who find themselves on the receiving end of a check to settle a dispute they were most likely never aware of in the first place. And the best part is the size of the checks, often in amounts less than the stamps used to mail them. Nothing like getting a check for fourteen cents in the mail says L. Matthews, whose settlement check in the landmark case against American Express Centurion Bank just arrived.

Sometimes the amount isn’t the issue as much as the stipulations surrounding the acceptance of the settlement. In Los Angeles, a judge approved an agreement calling for Sony Pictures Entertainment to pay $1.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the studio of citing a fake movie critic in ads for several films, an attorney said Tuesday.

Moviegoers who saw the films “Vertical Limit,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “The Animal,” “Hollow Man” or “The Patriot” during their original theater runs must file a claim to be eligible for a $5 per ticket reimbursement, said lawyer Norman Blumenthal, who represented a group of filmgoers who sued Sony Pictures in 2001. What do they do when the 1.5 million runs out? You have to assume more than 300,000 tickets were sold between the four movies.

I have been awarded three ridiculous checks as settlement for things I wasn’t truly injured by. I am proud to say those checks; totaling $7.41 were not and never will be cashed. Cashing them would be condoning the practice, where consumers get the pittance, and the attorneys pushing the cases get the nice cars. Me? I’m hoping for a direct hit by a dominoes delivery driver.

Jason Rigler
“Settlement Advocate” and consultant for Prosperity Partners Customer Service Department.

Tags: lawsuit, , settlement

Pretend Investors Losing Their Shirts

Into this new year of 2006 we are now seeing the bad decisions made by pretend real estate investors from 2005. There are too many untrained or poorly trained real estate investors in the marketplace today. January 4th 2006 we inspected 3 homes in pre foreclosure or foreclosure that were purchased by investors from the bank in 2005. These were all good money deals for knowledgeable real estate investors but not these guys.

Deal #1,
Investor buys a house for $112,000.

The bank foreclosed on the property for $91,000 two months prior. We passed on the deal our highest offer was $84,000 a big difference from $112,000.

Here’s why: ARV is $135,000

Our profit is $20,000 notice we take our profit out first

Repairs were $19,000

Carrying & Sales Cost $9,900

Miscellaneous $2,100

Highest Offer $84,000

Pretend investor pays $27,900 too much, and now is trying to unload his mistake at pre foreclosure for $149,000 on a poorly finished and under funded house.

Deal #2,
Investor buys a house for $172,000.

A pre foreclosure deal we didn’t even see this one coming. It was a good deal the ARV is $295,000 plenty of room to make a good profit.

The problem is this investor had too many deals in process at the same time. 3 other projects underway when he picked up this deal used the same bank on all 4 deals and personally signed each note and took title in his and his wife’s names. I don’t know how the other deals fell apart but this one could have been flipped for a small profit ($10,000 to $15,000) to another investor and maybe save the others.

Mistakes on top of mistakes never take title in your own name use a separate land trust, an LLC or a Corporation for each property. Never personally sign a note on an investment property to a bank. Use hard money lenders, use private lenders, use your Roth IRA, use your wife’s Roth and kids educational IRA these will fund your retirement or the kids education.

Deal #3,
Investor buys a house for $28,000.

His first investment with an ARV of $65,000 and repairs of $11,000 the plan was to rehab, refinance, hold, and rent the property. Rental rate in this area for a 2 bedroom, 1000 sq ft houses is about $575.00 a month. Which is a small monthly income to cover your cash flow or cash on hand for your family and your business but there is more to this problem.
Here with $11,000 in repairs the investor tries the cheap way to complete the job. He hires a part time general contractor who takes over 3 months to mostly complete the project. The contractor left some supplier bills unpaid and work incomplete before he quits because he wasn’t paid on time. After hiring another contractor to finish the job and paying all the bills the final cost of repairs is $19,500 and 4

Tags: billcareyrealtor, , , , , , foreclosure, preforeclosure, real estate investment, Real Estate investor, shortsale

Loans for Pending Lawsuits

There are many types of cases that qualify for loans for pending lawsuits, including personal injury cases such as automobile accidents; malpractice as in medical-legal, accounting, or construction; wrongful termination; discrimination; harassment; and much more. Lawsuit funding is available in most states and can be a very beneficial source of funds.

The fees charged by lawsuit loan companies can vary dramatically but it is usually best to stick with the larger companies, like Global Financial (http://www.glofin.com) because their larger volume of work allows for lower pricing. Usually a funding company will charge either a monthly fee or a flat fee depending on the risk associated with the claim.

Claimants should ask themselves one question before applying for a cash advance against their pending claim; will the advance received pay the immediate and necessary living expenses? A cash advance should be accepted only if the answer is “yes.” If the answer is no then it might be wise to hold off and wait before applying for a lawsuit loan or cash advance against a pending claim. In addition, a lawsuit loan may be a very important tool when the defendant’s insurance carrier decides to make a lowball offer for settlement in the claim. The claimant can then use a lawsuit loan as a financial tool to say no to the lowball offer and have the financial strength to wait for a higher and fairer settlement.

If a plaintiff takes a cash advance against the pending legal claim and the claim is then unsuccessful, the plaintiff gets to keep the money that was advanced. Thus the cash advance guarantees that the claim will be financially successful either by way of the cash advance or by way of settlement or judgment.

Most of the companies advance clients and attorneys the funds they may need while their cases are pending. This can eliminate any uncomfortable ethical questions between the client and the attorney. Companies allow the attorney to complete his or her case strategy, helping to avoid early and less profitable settlements. Some companies assess the qualifications of the case within 48 hours after receipt of the required case file material. If approved, the check is often sent the very next day.

Lawsuit Loans provides detailed information about lawsuit loans, lawsuit loan companies, lawsuit loan services and more. Lawsuit Loans is affiliated with Viatical Life Settlement.

Tags: lawsuit loan companies, , , lawsuit loan services, lawsuit loans
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