Filing Number:     685128

Filing Accepted:  3/27/2023

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Complainant

Last/Business Name *   CARLISLE   First Name   JACK Street Address * 2 2ND STREET City, State Zip * RYE, NE 10580 Email Address * JACKJCARLISLE@GMAIL.COM Complainant Type: * Other

Insured

Last/Business Name*   JEFFERSON   First Name   CATHERINE Policy # * NEW YORK LIFE 28189111 Claim #* N/A

Attorney

Attorney is Applicable Last Name* ANDREWS First Name * RYAN Initial J Street Address* 822 N. MONROE ST. City, State Zip* TALLAHASSEE , FL 32303 Email Address * RYAN@ANDREWSLAW.COM

Violation

Insurer Type *   Authorized Insurer Unauthorized Insurer   Insurer Name Insurer Name*   NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY Insurer Name* Street Address* City, State Zip* , NAIC Company Code 66915   Name of individual responsible for violation (if any):* BRIAN GRODIN, HUGO TOMASIO, MICHAEL BOOK Type of Insurance * Life & Annuity

Reason for Notice * Unfair Trade Practice Other : negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, breach of warrant fit for particular purpos * Statutory provision(s) which the insurer allegedly violated.   624.155(1)(b)(1) Not attempting in good faith to settle claims when, under all the circumstances, it could and should have done so, had it acted fairly and honestly toward its insured and with due regard for her or his interests. * Specific policy language that is relevant to the violation. Enter all words or phrases (one at a time) that should be used to filter. The complete policy and binder have not been provided as of this date.   * Facts and circumstances giving rise to the violation. Enter all words or phrases (one at a time) that should be used to filter. Complainant alleges that these statutes were violated as explained herein: 626.9541(1)(a)(1) 626.9541(1)(a)(2) 626.9541(1)(a)(6) 626.9541(1)(a)(7) 626.9541(1)(b)(4) 626.9541(1)(b)(4) 626.9541(1)(h)(1)(a) 626.9541(1)(h)(1)(b) 626.9541(1)(h)(2)(a) 626.9541(1)(h)(2)(c) 626.9541(1)(k)(1) 626.9541(1)(k)(2) (1) Unfair Trade Practice, (2) Fraud, (3) Misrepresentation, (4) Negligence, and (5) Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Warranty of fit for a Particular Purpose-During the sales process and pitch by the insurers, Brian Grodin (A302051, and Hugo Tomasio W542241), the insured requested that Grodin and Tomasio provide a policy or policies that, if given a fixed collateral amount of $13 million, Brett Jefferson/the trust would not have to provide any other funding or resources to pay these policies other than proceeds from the assets held as collateral. The trust made this clear through Mr. Jefferson as a representative of the trust, indicating that it was imperative that he not be required to provide any other funding as he had already reached the maximum gifting limits available to him under the Internal Revenue Code and he did not want to incur additional liability as a result of exceeding such limit. These individuals were informed of this on each and every call, including that if there was a chance that he would have to contribute additional collateral, he would prefer not to proceed any further with the acquisition of the Mass Mutual and New York Life policies. It was a requirement by Mr. Jefferson that $13 million collateral sufficiently over-collateralize the trust for the life of the transaction and that only proceeds from the $13mm collateral pool would be used to pay $300,000 per year on the policies. The insurers and their agents never stress tested the models that were shown to Mr. Jefferson and the trust prior to purchasing the policies. Indeed, the numbers included in their modeling were inaccurate. After acquisition of the policies, the trust requested updated modeling which was not provided for approximately one year. The updated modeling was provided in February of 2023. Lastly, Mr. Jefferson and the trust agreed to pledge two other life insurance policies for additional collateral. Mass Mutual, New York Life, Brian Grodin, and Hugo Tomasio failed to include this as collateral for the new 2021 policies, which Mr. Jefferson and the Trust did not learn of until first quarter 2023. Additionally, after the analysis of the collateral was requested (after waiting for a year), Mr. Tomasio applied interest rates that were not remotely reflective of current market rates. During the sales process, he made overly aggressive assumptions about the collateral which Mr. Jefferson/the trust would have had the opportunity to identify had Mr. Tomasio bothered to stress test his own model, which we believe he did not. When Mr. Jefferson contacted the brokers who worked with Mass Mutual because he was concerned the policies were underwater, and the fact that this risk was never analyzed or disclosed, Mr. Tomasio said “you have nothing to worry about because if the interest rates rise then the dividend on the policy will increase, it has to.” The representations about the rates and dividends violated Florida law. We believe this issue may be more widespread. Premium finance policies are sold with the promise that ‘they will pay for themselves’ without regard to reasonably warning prospective purchasers that additional contributions will be needed if rates deviate from assumptions utilized in aspirational models presented (in pdf) during the sales process. (6) Undisclosed Bonuses and referral fees-It was never disclosed to the purchaser or owner of the policies that individuals other than licensed life insurance agents would be receiving bonuses from the purchase of the insurance policies at issue. Indeed, the individual who received the undisclosed bonus agreed to send the undisclosed bonus back to Mr. Jefferson and the Trust after he learned what Mass Mutual, New York Life, Brian Grodin and Hugo Tomasio did. (7) Failure to provide a binder after closing-To date, on any of the policies at issue, the Insurers have wholly failed to provide the complete binder for each of the policies at issue.

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