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WEBVTT JAYNE: LEAD PAINT POISONING HAS AFFECTED MOSTLY POOR PEOPLE IN BALTIMORE. CHILDREN LIVING WITH COGNITIVE DISABILITIES AS ADULTS. ACCESS FUNDING SEIZED ON THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS AND USED PRACTICES TO CONVINCED -- CONVINCE VICTIMS TO SIGN OVER THEIR MONTHLY PAYMENTS FROM SETTLEMENTS OF LAWSUITS FOR UPFRONT CASH.% THE AMOUNTS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS WERE FAR LESS THAN THE SETTLEMENTS WERE WORTH. >> THEY WOULD BUY AT A STEEP DISCOUNT THE ANNUITIES THESE PEOPLE HAD. IF THE PRESENT VALUE WAS $1 MILLION, THEY WOULD PAY $300,000 FOR IT. JAYNE: BRIAN FROSCH IS ASKING THE COURT TO FIND THE FIRM VIOLATED AN ACT. THERE IS A GENERATION IN THEIR MID-20’S TO MID 30’S WHO HAVE LED PAID SETTLEMENTS, ONE EXECUTIVE WROTE, ALL THE ROW HOUSES HAD PAID, WE SIGNED TWO BROTHERS AT ONCE AND OUR REP FOUND TWO OTHERS HAVE PAYMENTS AND THEIR FRIENDS DO TOO. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY. THE FILING SAY AFTER SIGNING A PAIR OF SISTERS, THEY PLANNED A BARBECUE FOR ANNUITANTS. PROFIT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT ANNUITANTS DO NOT HAVE THE FINANCIAL STABILITY IN THEIR LIVES. >> IN MY VIEW THOSE EXCHANGES SHOWED EXTREME PREDATORY NATURE OF THE BUSINESS THAT THIS COMPANY WAS IN. JAYNE: I AM JAYNE MILLER, WBAL-TV 11 NEWS. ANDRE: ONE CALLED THE ALLEGATI

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New court filings reveal how a Montgomery County firm targeted lead paint poisoning victims in Baltimore to make a profit.The filings are part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh's office. The filings contain emails among the firm's executives talking about how to go after lead paint victims, taking advantage of the disabilities the lead paint caused.Lead paint poisoning has affected thousands of mostly poor people in Baltimore, who were poisoned by chipping paint in old rowhomes as children, and, as a result, are living with cognitive disabilities as adults.The attorney general said a Montgomery County firm, Access Funding, used billboards, fliers and other practices to convince lead paint victims to sign over their monthly payments from settlements of lawsuits for upfront cash. The amounts were far less than the settlements were worth."They would buy at a steep discount the annuities these people had. So if the present value was $1 million, they would pay $300,000 for it," Frosh said.Frosh has sued the firm and is asking a judge to find the firm violated the Consumer Protection Act. New filings include internal emails that Frosh said show how the firm's executives saw Baltimore's lead paint cases as a gold mine.According to the filings, one executive wrote to another: "There is a whole generation in their mid-20s to mid-30s that all have lead paint settlements. All the rowhouses had paint. We signed two brothers at once and while there, our rep found two other family members have payments and their friends do, too. This is opportunity!"The filings said that after "signing a pair of lead paint sisters," two top executives planned a lake trout barbeque for lead paint annuitants.Frosh said an internal sales manual profiles a lead paint victim, saying: "It is important to remember that annuitants do not generally have the peace in their lives that comes with financial stability. Take full advantage. You are their savior. We fill a demand. It is also your job to provide tough love and get them off the couch if they are on the verge of ruin.""On my view, those exchanges show the extreme predatory nature of the business this company was in," Frosh said. "They talk about a class of individuals who are lead poisoned, cognitively impaired and say, 'This is a great source of funds for us. We can make millions of dollars.'"Lawyers for Access Funding dispute the attorney general's allegations, one calling them threadbare. They said the firm no longer operates.The lawsuit has been going on for more than two years.