Whether you call it a lawsuit loan, pre-settlement funding, or a settlement advance, the process of obtaining an advance on the proceeds from your pending settlement is often much quicker, less document-intensive, and more painless than you may be used to from other loans you have obtained in the past.
Many plaintiffs who use mortgages or other bank loans know that these loans can take weeks or even months for a lender to process and then decide on those applications. Plaintiffs are often surprised by (1) how quickly they can be approved for financing with a lawsuit loan, (2) the minimal amount of information and paperwork needed from them in order to apply for and ultimately obtain lawsuit funding, and (3) how quickly the funds are received once a funding application is approved.
Pre-settlement legal funding is a speedy process by the standards of applying for and receiving lawsuit loans. In fact, your lawsuit serves as the means of repayment for lenders, not your income, so your ability to repay is assessed primarily by obtaining information and documents from your attorney rather than making you scour the filing cabinets in your home for tax returns from decades ago.
Getting a lawsuit loan: how long does it take?
The lawsuit loan approval will generally take 2 business days, while disbursal will take 2 – 24 hours in most cases. The fastest you can get funding is the same day you apply.
With a lawsuit loan, there are no long loan application forms asking for every address you have lived at, nor does it take weeks of sitting around waiting for the lender to decide on your application while four different sets of the lower, middle and upper managers review your application, each time asking for more information and documents.
All lawsuit loan applications begin an initial review with the attorney representing the plaintiff, and most funding requests are completed within 48 hours. The faster you can get your attorney to send your case file, the faster you can get a lawsuit loan that same day.
For plaintiffs requesting additional funding while having a previous loan from another lawsuit funding company, it will require additional documents for case review, including a payoff letter. Our funding specialists will contact your previous funding company after your lawyer provides your case file to start our review. This process can take up to 4 business days.
The pre-settlement funding process at a glance.
The application for lawsuit loans is remarkably simple. Here is how it works.
1) Initial application
When you apply for a cash advance on a pending lawsuit, you will only be asked to provide your name, your telephone number and/or email address, a few other identifying details, and the name and contact information for your attorney.
2) Contacting your attorney
The prospective settlement lender will typically then contact your attorney to obtain information and documents about your lawsuit in order to be able to assess and evaluate the strength and value of your case. Once your attorney has provided this information, the lawsuit lender will then review it and be in a position to make a decision on your request for funds.
3) Funds after approval
Upon approval, you and your attorney will receive the final funding documents to sign. Once the agreements are completed, you can expect to receive the money in just a few hours or the next business day, depending on the time the contract was executed, either through a wire transfer or an overnight check.
Determining the lawsuit loan approval.
A lawsuit loan company has no interest in your personal ability to repay the loan. They are solely concerned with the strength and monetary value of your pending lawsuit settlement. Period.
In determining your approval, the focus is mainly on this fact since the lender will lose their money if you do not win your litigation. That is because pre-settlement legal funding is a non-recourse loan, and it is only repaid if you prevail in your lawsuit, either through a settlement or a jury trial in your favor.
The lawsuit loan process’s quick lending time makes pre-settlement funding a convenient option for personal injury victims needing urgent cash.
Factors that may delay a lawsuit loan.
It is possible for a lawsuit loan to take as long as 2 weeks to process, depending on:
- How complicated your case is;
- Previous lawsuit loans from other lenders;
- How much funding you are requesting;
- Potential tax liens, recent bankruptcies, or child support liens;
- How long your attorney takes to send your case file and information.
In order to increase your chances of getting your funding application approved quickly, put your best foot forward. Ensure the following:
- Be honest with your application;
- That your case is solid;
- That you have an unblemished injury history;
- That your attorney speaks to the lender when required.
To make the application process a little easier, you can also assemble your case file and information that underwriting might request from your attorney. Some of the documents a lender may ask for are:
- Medical records
- MRI
- Defendant’s insurance limits
- Surgery post-op report
- Ambulance report
- Police report
- Photos or videos of the incident
- Expert report for medical malpractice
- Payoff letter from your previous lender (if you have previous funding.)
The difference in length of time between pre-settlement funding and a bank loan.
Traditional banking institutions require applications that are well over twenty pages and take weeks and weeks of submitting document after document demonstrating you have enough income and assets to be able to repay the loan or, if you lose your job or source of income, you’ll have to continue to pay their loans.
In general, banks are based upon your income and assets, and a lender wants to ensure that they are protected if they extend cash for you.
Mispayments, bankruptcies, and foreclosures are expensive for banks, and they have to hire someone to mow the lawn and go through an onerous, expensive process if you stop paying your bank loan.
The pre-settlement funding approval process doesn’t work as a bank loan process.
All lawsuit loan approvals are based on the strength of your lawsuit rather than your personal income or assets. The process is often very quick compared to banks which may take weeks or months to approve a loan. However, if your case is not strong enough to win, you likely won’t qualify.
The takeaway.
As you consider applying for a lawsuit loan, check out Baker Street Funding. Our pre-settlement funding amounts range from $1,500 to $2,000,000+.
Baker Street Funding will assess the strength of your lawsuit and the chances it will result in your favor, either through a settlement or after a jury trial, in deciding whether to extend financing to you, given that is the security our investors have for the final repayment of the lawsuit loan.
With Baker Street Funding, you often will receive the money quickly once your request for funds is approved. Fortunately, this puts money in your pocket to be able to feed your family, keep the lights on, or stay current on your mortgage or rent.
Baker Street Funding is a leader in the lawsuit financing space, offering legal funding refinancing options to help you save on the pending lawsuit loans you already have from other lenders.
