Los Angeles, CA ( PressReleaseCollection ) November 17, 2008 – Legalfunding.com announced that it intends to offer legal funding to consumers in Ohio by the end of this year.
On May 28, 2008, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed into law House Bill 248, creating a regulatory system under which legal finance companies can operate in Ohio. The bill had unanimously passed both the Ohio House and Senate. The bill overturns Ohio's prior policy of prohibiting legal finance companies from operating in the state. Ohio, which had been the only state in the country to explicitly forbid legal financing, joins Maine as the second state to formally regulate the legal financing industry through recently enacted statutes.
Industry Experts Applaud Ohio's New Regulatory Framework for Legal Funding: "This opens up the industry and allows the people of Ohio the services they need." Betty Montgomery, former Ohio Attorney General and Ohio State Auditor, said, "A well-regulated legal finance market is a very competitive, consumer friendly thing. This is a new market where firms are trying to create options for consumers and meet an acute need." Montgomery also noted, "The Ohio bill that passed has a number of important elements that will protect consumers, most notably the requirement that the consumer's lawyer must be involved in the process and that there be full disclosure on all the terms of the legal funding advance."
The Legal Financing Industry:
Legal financing, also referred to as legal funding is a financial service that provides assistance for basic living expenses to consumers involved in legal claims. Lawsuits can span months or years before settlements are awardedand in many instances consumers do not have sufficient funds to pay rent or mortgage payments, purchase gas, buy food for their families, or pay off medical debts. The advances provided are not loans. Rather, they are 'non-recourse,' meaning the advance only needs to be repaid if the consumer wins his or her case. Legal financing firms take significant risks and can lose monies advanced when a funded consumer loses or abandons a court case.
Legal financing cannot be used for legal expenses, and is only available to consumers who are already entangled in the legal system and have engaged an attorney. Once legal funding is provided to the consumer, the legal financing firm has no subsequent input relative to the consumer's case or settlement negotiation.
Advance amounts are determined based on an analysis of the strength of a claim, the need of the consumer, and the input and approval of the consumer's attorney.
About Lawsuit Funding.com:
LawsuitFunding.com is one of the nation's leading legal funding source for consumers. For more information, please visit : www.lawsuitfunding.com
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