"Settling for less," a recent article in U.S. News, discusses the somewhat newfound entity of "factoring companies." These factoring companies provide a lump sum cash amount in return for a beneficiary's future payments. This lump sum amount, as you may have guessed, is considerably less than the full amount that would be received if the beneficiary were to wait for each installment. The big question is are the factoring companies actually providing a service or are they merely "preying upon the vulnerable"? Several consumers that have take ....