We stay alert, informed and implement safeguards to protect our senior borrowers. It takes all of us to prevent fraud, and the most important player is you. Read the RMD article below about the increase in elder financial abuse.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is warning of reported widespread financial abuse of seniors ranging in sources from offshore scammers to immediate family members. The agency detailed its findings in a new blog at the agency’s website, and has released a dedicated report to inform the public about the rampancy of the issue.

In response to the increasing prevalence of the issue, financial institutions are, “filing hundreds of thousands of reports with the federal government about these suspicions,” and the agency’s new report highlights key details of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that the institutions have submitted to it.

Among the data revealed in the report, there is an increasing level of frequency in financial scams targeting older Americans.

“SAR filings on elder financial exploitation quadrupled from 2013 to 2017,” the CFPB said in its blog post announcing the report’s release. “In 2017, financial institutions filed 63,500 SARs reporting elder financial abuse. Yet these SARs likely represent only a tiny fraction of the actual 3.5 million incidents of elder financial exploitation estimated to have happened that year.”

The reports are also not limited only to banks or credit unions, but also extend to money services businesses used by consumers to wire money. Older adults aged between 70-79 reportedly lost around $43,300, but the figure of average loss grows to around $50,000 in cases where the victim knew their scammer.”

Click here to read the full RMD article.

Click here to read the CFPB blog post.

Ins and Outs of Title and Settlement in Texas

Wednesday, March 13,  2019 – 10:00am PST/1:00pm EST 

Join us for a webinar dedicated to walking you through a Texas closing from start to finish, with an emphasis on Texas guidelines. We will review vesting tips and hits, required forms and documents, state specific fees, trusts and so much more.

Click here to register.

Introduction to Powers of Attorney

Wednesday, March 20,  2019  10:00am PST/1:00pm EST

Reverse mortgages are complex and being prepared is key to a successful closing. Powers of Attorney are very common in the Reverse Mortgage industry. We are happy to share our experience and knowledge with you and together we can make the borrower’s experience a pleasant one.

Click here to register.

For all mortgages of real property, or renewal or extension of such a mortgage, received and filed for record on and after January 1, 2019, the tax shall be 0.0% of the principal debt or obligation which is secured by such mortgage.

Use the link to see the full statute: STATE STAMP TAX – Statute Kansas State Legislature

Our calculator was updated to reflect this change effective January 1, 2019.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection created a consumer education placemat to help older adults protect themselves from fake charity scams. The placemat is part of a series of consumer education placemats that meal service providers can share with meal deliveries or at group meal sites, financial institutions can share with their customers, faith-based organizations can share with their congregants.

The placemats are free to order in bulk. To accompany the fake charity scam placemat, the BCFP created a brief guide that practitioners can use to prevent, protect, recognize, and report fake charity scams. Read the agency’s blog about fake charity scams for more information.

If you have any questions, members can contact the BCFP at olderamericans@cfpb.gov.