According to a recent report from MetLife’s Mature Market Institute, the elderly are victimized $2.6 billion a year, and that is a conservative figure because it has been estimated that only one in 25 cases of financial elder abuse is ever reported to authorities.
At a conference last month of specialists in reverse mortgages, a financial tool that seniors can use to tap into the equity they have in their homes without having to sell or move out, lenders were asked to help uncover ploys and schemes designed to fleece unsuspecting and often overly trusting seniors. That might seem somewhat ironic when you consider that lenders, especially those dealing in mortgages that don’t have to be paid back until the borrower dies or moves away on his/her own volition, often stand accused of robbing the elderly with their backward loans.
The MetLife study confirms that “Approximately 60% of the substantiated Adult Protective Services’ cases of financial abuse involve an adult child.”
However, not all reverse-mortgage lenders are squeaky-clean. In November, for example, the government pulled the plug on a Honolulu company that allegedly duped senior citizens into using the proceeds of their reverse mortgages to buy annuities from an affiliated insurance firm. In one instance, the company supposedly “steered an 88-year-old borrower into purchasing an annuity which did not mature until she reached her 104th birthday.”
Berman & Riedel, LLP is a California law firm that focuses on the aggressive representation of victims of elder abuse and neglect throughout San Diego and Southern California. The firm is regarded by many as the state’s leading advocate for the rights of those victimized in elder care facilities exhibiting some of the state’s worst examples of abuse and neglect.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the care an elderly loved one is receiving in a nursing home or other type of elder care facility, call Berman & Riedel, LLP today at (858) 350-8855. Our staff will happily provide you and your family with an initial free consultation to discuss with you the rights you and your family may have under California and federal law. To learn more about the firm’s elder abuse and neglect law practice, visit Berman & Riedel, LLP’s main website at www.preventelderabuse.com.
