Assembly To Act On Comprehensive Legislative Package Aimed At Protecting New York's Seniors

Multi-bill package seeks to protect senior citizens from violence, predatory lending practices and consumer fraud

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol today announced Assembly action on a comprehensive eight-bill package aimed at protecting New York's senior citizens from violence, predatory financial practices and consumer fraud.

Joining the legislative leaders at a news conference in support of the package were Judiciary Committee Chair Helene Weinstein, and Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee Chair Audrey Pheffer. The lawmakers stressed the Assembly Majority's continued commitment to meeting the needs of New York's senior population through the package, which contains measures ranging from enhanced penalties for assaulting elderly victims to overhauling power of attorney laws.

Also expressing support for the legislative package were representatives for AARP, the Elder Law Clinic of St. John's University School of Law, DC-37, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, Queens Civil Division Legal Aid Society, MFY Legal Services and the Empire Justice Center.

The lawmakers noted that in New York State, an estimated 30,000 seniors are victims of some sort of abuse or exploitation each year. Statewide demographic changes, a higher reliance on assisted living and an increase in longevity leading to more medically complex and frail elders may also increase the cases of abuse and exploitation of seniors.

"Violent crimes against the elderly are particularly heinous acts of cowardice. And those who prey upon the elderly through fraud and predatory financial practices must be punished. The Assembly has conducted a series of statewide hearings with the specific goal of determining the full scope of the problem and formulating effective solutions," said Silver (D-Manhattan). "With many cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation hidden and unreported each year, the Assembly Majority is committed to safeguarding seniors from harm and addressing the needs that arise from victimization of the elderly."

"Only our society's worst miscreants would seek to defraud the elderly. We need new laws to combat new types of fraud. The package that the Assembly is advancing sends a clear message that the victimization of New York's senior citizens is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," said Lentol (D-Brooklyn).

Citing the type of violence that was witnessed last year with the brutal beating of 101- year-old Rose Morat of Queens, Silver said the cornerstone of the package was Assembly bill 9818 which would help curb predatory attacks by strengthening the penalties for those who perpetrate acts of violence against the elderly. The bill, sponsored by Silver, would increase the penalty for assaulting a person 65 years or older by someone more than 10 years younger from a class A misdemeanor to second-degree assault - a class D violent felony.

Unlike the bill introduced by the Senate last year, this bill raises assault against seniors from a class A misdemeanor to a class D violent felony, rather than the lesser charge of an E violent felony. Silver also noted the Senate bill only applied to those 70 years of age or older.

"Protecting vulnerable communities has been the bedrock of the Assembly's agenda. After lifetimes spent working jobs, raising families, paying taxes and serving their communities our seniors deserve all of the respect, protection and assistance this government can provide them. Anything less would fail the moral test of governing," said Silver.

Increasing the Punishment for Attacks on Seniors

The Assembly's proposed plan will strengthen penalties for acts of violence against seniors. This package includes proposals which would:

• Make it easier to charge those who scam and defraud vulnerable elderly persons with a felony by lowering the threshold for felony charges from defrauding ten persons to defrauding two vulnerable elderly persons (A.9813/Lentol);

• Give targets of bias-related violence or intimidation the right to a civil cause of action for damages or injunctive relief. Individuals who are targeted or whose property is targeted because they are or were perceived to be over the age of sixty years would have this right of action along with individuals targeted because of their gender, race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, religious practice, disability, or sexual orientation (A.866/Destito).

"This package takes important steps towards including age discrimination among the classifications of those able to seek justice for deliberate hate crimes," said Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito (D-Utica/Rome). "Our elderly have enough to worry about; protecting themselves from crime shouldn't be one of them. I am proud to be sponsoring legislation which provides civil remedies to victims of hate crimes, in addition to any possible criminal prosecution."

Protecting the Assets of Senior and Other Vulnerable Populations

Noting that the elderly are often taken advantage of by those whom they trust the most, legislation (A.6421-A) sponsored by Weinstein would completely overhaul New York's power of attorney laws to prevent the misuse of this powerful tool. Designed to protect the elderly from being preyed on by scammers using power of attorney to gain control of assets, the measure would fill several gaps in the general obligation law relating to powers of attorney.

Under the legislation, agents for the elderly or the incapacitated who have been given a power of attorney would be more answerable to their principal than under current law and unlawful acts committed under cover of the power of attorney could more easily be prosecuted. Because misuse of power of attorney is generally tough to prove, this legislation will create a traceable paper trail with legal consequences that can be used to assist district attorneys when prosecuting cases relating to powers of attorney scams.

An individual who is given authority as an agent under a power of attorney will be required to sign a form, and formally accept the obligations that come with the powers he or she is vested with, including an express, binding fiduciary duty to the grantor. Current law does not require any signature by the agent, nor does it require an express agreement to be bound as a fiduciary. Thus, should the agent abuse his authority and commit a crime, the power of attorney would become invaluable evidence in a prosecutor's arsenal of weapons against fraud.

Weinstein noted that the Assembly Majority's power of attorney bill was the result of many years of research, study and drafting by the highly-esteemed New York State Law Revision Commission.

"Collaborating with such a well-respected entity on such important issues has allowed us to advance the most comprehensive plan to protect seniors from unscrupulous individuals and those who would unlawfully seize the sole means of survival for many seniors," said Weinstein (D-Brooklyn).

"The only source of income for 750,000 New York seniors is Social Security. It is important that in cases where judgment creditors attempt to seize assets, they do not leave the elderly completely unable to care for their most basic needs. Current law enables creditors to ignore exemptions and allows them to freeze an account regardless of its contents," she continued.

Other bills in the Assembly Majority package aimed at better protecting the elderly and vulnerable from crooks and con artists would:

• Better protect Social Security, Social Security disability, Supplemental Security income and veteran's benefits from being frozen in a bank account by judgment creditors. If enacted, it would exempt the first $2,500 in a bank account when the account contains such funds that were directly deposited within 45 days. It would also create a legal procedure where debtors who receive such income are informed that such funds are exempt and given a chance to protect that money before an entire bank account is restrained. In addition, it bars banks from charging fees in processing a levy where a bank account contains only such electronically deposited funds. (A.8527/Weinstein); and,

• Require landlords to retain security deposits as a "trust" during a tenancy and require the prompt repayment and accounting of the funds at the end of a tenancy. The elderly and other New Yorkers who rent are often unaware of what happens to their security deposits. This bill also creates a series of consequences should the landlord fail to observe the law and requires landlords to itemize damages (A.2114/Lentol).

"It is widely known that fraudsters often take advantage of the fact that older consumers tend to be more trusting of strangers," said Pheffer (D-Queens). "The measures in this legislative package will serve to protect seniors from scammers looking to separate them from their hard-earned money and punish those who perpetrate such scams."

Helping Elderly Victims

Another set of bills in the package would help seniors who have been victimized by violence or fraud. These measures would:

• Require the superintendent of State Police to develop educational materials and procedures relating to abuse of adults for use by the members of the Division of State Police (A.9905/Dinowitz);

• Add an experienced elder law attorney to the state's Crime Victims Board, providing valuable perspective for cases involving older New Yorkers (A.6204/Englebright).

"The victimization of New York's senior citizens is unacceptable. It is imperative that we do everything in our power to ensure that every senior feels safe in their homes and in their communities. As the Chair of the Assembly's Aging Committee, I am committed to supporting legislation which would protect seniors from crimes," said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx).

"Having an attorney familiar with the intricacies of elder law is an important component to helping victims," said Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket). "Sadly, the perpetrators of elder abuse are often people close to the victim, making it difficult for victims to come forward. The inclusion of elder abuse experts on the crime victims board will make it easier to serve the needs of this population."

"The measures we are highlighting today assure seniors additional protections from those determined to profit at their expense," said Silver. "I call on the Senate and the Governor to support this package that will ensure our older generation receives the necessary support and services with which they need to remain self-sufficient, and also provide harsher punishments to those who try and take advantage of or hurt our elderly across the state."