Habersham Funding LLC – Life settlement pioneer licensed in Georgia

Posted Thursday, November 16, 2006

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Atlanta, November 15, 2006 – Habersham Funding, LLC, an Atlanta-based firm that does business nationally, has been licensed as a life settlement provider in the state of Georgia. The company received its license from Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine’s office November 14.

 

Habersham, which was founded in 2001 by settlement industry pioneer M. Bryan Freeman, provides the funds for life settlements, which enable seniors who no longer want or need their life insurance to receive an advance cash payment for their policy.

 

Legislation establishing life settlement provider licensing was passed in 2005 by the Georgia Legislature. James W. Maxson, Habersham’s general counsel, explains that life settlement companies already doing business in the state were allowed to continue purchasing policies until the provider application process could be completed.

 

“We were the first to apply and, I am proud to say, the first Georgia company to be approved,” he says, noting that, “our company has a long history of working closely with state and federal regulators and legislators, so it’s a natural for us to be first in line when it comes to the implementation of regulation in our home state.”

 

“Given that ours is a young industry,” he says, “participating in the regulatory process and promptly getting licensed wherever we do business is a responsibility we take seriously. In short, dealing with reputable settlement companies that understand the importance of complying with the law is critical to advancing consumer’s rights to assign their life insurance policies, as is legislatively protecting those rights and the settlement industry as the viable and mainstream financial alternative to surrender or lapse of life insurance policies. After all, on average, we pay many times the amount that insurers do for policies.”

 

Habersham’s Freeman says, “from the beginning we have been outspoken advocates of consumers’ rights and responsible legislation. Indeed, regulation like that put in place by Georgia is a positive outcome for us all; it helps reassure all parties to our transactions and has helped cement solid and unprecedented financial relationships for us.”

 

Maxson adds that, under the Georgia Life Settlement Act, life insurance agents, by virtue of their life insurance license and notification to the Georgia Insurance Department, may arrange a life settlement for their clients who have unneeded or unwanted life policies. “Consumers in Georgia win with this law because their agents can advise them on how they may receive maximum value for their policies,” he says.

 

“The secondary market for life insurance has undergone a rapid evolution,” Freeman says. “This industry began 17 years ago as a niche service for people who faced serious illness. Today, the industry has come into its own; life settlements are now being embraced by insurance agents, attorneys, accountants and financial planners for everyone from people of modest means to high-net-worth individuals.”

 

“Having a secondary market for life insurance policies,” he says, “gives the policies liquidity similar to residential mortgages and stocks. And with the senior population growing rapidly, this means we have an opportunity to work with them and their advisors in the tradable life policies market, currently worth billions of dollars – and growing.”

 

With its licensure in Georgia, Habersham Funding can buy life policies in all states and most US territories (including Washington, DC) with the exception of Alaska, Florida and Montana.

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