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Follow Us on Twitter!Texas Legislators Crack Down on Criminals Who Target Seniors
According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, Texas legislators have created stiffer criminal penalties for those who defraud senior citizens. The influential group, the Texas Silver-Haired Legislature urged that decisive action be taken against criminals who target senior citizens for foreclosure scams, credit card scams, identify theft and other types of financial abuse.
The article said:
“It is a fairly widespread problem, which is being made worse by the increasing number of seniors and the tight economy,” said Carlos Higgins, a representative of the group who lobbied for the new law. “As folks get older, too often they are less able to recognize and defend against the sharks out there, and we know the sharks are targeting seniors all over the state. Unfortunately, we also too often see seniors abused by their own family members.”
This is an unfortunate reality. Many seniors find themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous family members who abuse their credit cards, deplete their bank accounts and eventually cause them to lose assets such as their home to foreclosure. This new legislature will increase the penalty and “level” of the crime when it involves a senior citizen. For example, if a scammer committed a crime against a senior that was originally a state jail felony with a maximum jail sentence of 2 years, it could increase to a third-degree felony with a maximum jail sentence of 10 years under the new law.
Hopefully this new legislation will deter would be scammers who target one of our most vulnerable populations for credit card scams, foreclosure scams and other tricks designed to siphon off their assets.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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September 10th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
It is about time. I took a pro bono case one time and helped a USMC Korean War Veteran’s widow keep her home despite she was a victim of a reverse fraud mortgage scheme. The FBI assisted me in getting this ladies house back to her.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Yes about time we are making the right move to help seniors out. I hope they do pass this, and maybe other states will follow.
October 30th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Hope they go after the companies like Verizon that take advantage of the senior citizens by false advertising.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I hope they go after these contractors that say they can fix your house and then they run leaving the problem worse than before! What is a senior to do? Seniors are getting tired of getting ripped off!
November 13th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Wow, what a great way to speak up for our seniors. I salute the legislators who took the time to think about the forgetten and growing population in our midst.