[§676‑6]  General provisions construction.  (a)  The provisions of this chapter may not be waived by any payee.

     (b)  Any transfer agreement entered into on or after May 26, 2006, by a payee who resides in this State shall provide that disputes under the transfer agreement, including any claim that the payee has breached the agreement, shall be determined in and under the laws of this State.  No transfer agreement shall authorize the transferee or any other party to confess judgment or consent to entry of judgment against the payee.

     (c)  No transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall extend to any payments that are life-contingent unless, prior to the date on which the payee signs the transfer agreement, the transferee has established and has agreed to maintain procedures reasonably satisfactory to the annuity issuer and the structured settlement obligor for:

     (1)  Periodically confirming the payee's survival; and

     (2)  Giving the annuity issuer and the structured settlement obligor prompt written notice in the event of the payee's death.

     (d)  No payee who proposes to make a transfer of structured settlement payment rights shall incur any penalty, forfeit any application fee or other payment, or otherwise incur any liability to the proposed transferee or any assignee based on any failure of the transfer to satisfy the conditions of this chapter.

     (e)  Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to authorize any transfer of structured settlement payment rights in contravention of any law or to imply that any transfer under a transfer agreement entered into prior to May 26, 2006, is valid or invalid.

     (f)  Compliance with the requirements set forth in section 676‑2 and fulfillment of the conditions set forth in section 676‑3 shall be solely the responsibility of the transferee in any transfer of structured settlement payment rights, and neither the structured settlement obligor nor the annuity issuer shall bear any responsibility for, or any liability arising from, noncompliance with the requirements or failure to fulfill the conditions. [L 2006, c 146, pt of §1]

Revision Note

  "May 26, 2006," substituted for "the effective date of this Act".