Chief Deputy Clerk in Santa Barbara County, Melinda Greene, works to protect seniors with capacity issues.
If an older adult comes into the Hall of Records with someone who takes over the conversation in order to obtain a marriage license or a real estate record, the staff at the Hall of Records are on high alert and are unlikely to process the request. Instead, they are likely to contact Adult Protective Services, the District Attorney, or even the FBI.
Recently, fraudsters in various cities have been taking advantage of elderly adults by requesting a memorandum or exclusive right to sell agreement. Here's how the scam works. Elderly homeowners who are financially distressed are offered around $1,000 . In exchange, they sign an agreement to use the specific real estate listing agent for a period of 40 years! If they try to cancel the agreement they have to pay back thousands of dollars. As if that isn't bad enough, the agreement can also be viewed as a lien on their property.
Melinda also described a recent case under investigation; a caregiver transfered $100,000 from her client's account into an LLC under the client's name. In other words, the caregiver who was taking care of 'Jane Doe' set up an LLC called 'Jane Doe LLC.' But the elderly client was not a member of the LLC. In a frightening turn of events rhe elderly client's recent death has been ruled a homicide and the caregiver is under investigation.
With crimes against vulnerable seniors on the rise, we are very glad that people like Melinda Greene are doing their very best to protect them.
