financial elder abuse law firm in Santa Rosa Tag Archives

Poor Eyesight and Hearing Puts Elderly at Risk for Financial Abuse

September 4, 2017 | Gregory J. Brod

Certain medical issues become more common with age. It is common for seniors’ eyesight and hearing to decline. These issues can become so severe as to make elderly individuals legally blind or deaf, which can put them at a significant disadvantage when it comes to handling their own financial affairs. When they are not able to hear or see well, seniors may heavily rely on others to help them with simple matters like maintaining their checkbooks, to more complex matters like protecting their retirement assets and buying or selling real estate. While at such a disadvantage, family members, friends, neighbors, and others can take advantage and financially abuse these seniors.

If you believe an elderly parent or loved one is being taken advantage of because they cannot hear or see well to manage their own affairs, contact our experienced San Francisco elder abuse lawyers from Brod Law Firm at (800) 427-7020.

Hearing Loss in Seniors

California Elderly Relying on High-Interest Payday Loans

July 10, 2017 | Gregory J. Brod

The California Department of Business Oversight (CDBO) had disturbing news. The CDBO released a report in May on California’s Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, which showed senior citizens, those older than 62, took out more deferred deposit loans than any other age group. In fact, 23.4% of those over 62 relied on these “cash advance” or “payday” loans in 2016. These are short-term loans during which an individual borrows a small amount of cash, which they then have to pay back with a very high interest rate. There are usually lending fees involved too.

This is just one example of how elderly individuals are often put in financially precarious situations and can easily be taken advantage of by lenders and individuals.

Payday Loans Have Extremely High Interest

Fighting Financial Fraud in 2016: Northern California Lawyer Warns of Financial Scams Targeting Seniors

January 1, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

As a new year dawns, it occurs to us that our work is a mix of retrospective moments and prospective planning, focusing on difficult moments with the hopes of helping our clients move forward. We are proud of this work, but enjoy using this blog to help prevent these terrible moments. In this spirit, we turn today to the problem of financial scams targeting seniors. Elder abuse, one of our firm’s specialty practice areas, includes physical, emotional, and financial harm. Although people of any age can be impacted, seniors are disproportionately targeted with financial fraud targeting seniors on the rise. Today, our San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Rosa financial abuse lawyer looks at some common scams from 2015 with the hopes of helping readers guard their money in 2016.

The Top Ten Scams of 2016 (Plus Two)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat recently ran an informative article that elaborates on the Better Business Bureau’s (“BBB”) list of the Top Ten Scams of 2015, a list we’d subtitle “That You Should Watch Out for in 2015”: