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Question:  Is there recent guidance for mortgage lenders on elder abuse awareness and prevention? 

Answer: 

Yes, in December 2024, the federal and state regulators issued an Interagency Statement on Elder Financial Exploitation (Statement) to raise awareness and provide strategies to supervised institutions for combating elder financial exploitation, consistent with applicable legal requirements.  In addition to listing numerous federal and state resources, the Statement provides the following examples of risk management practices that supervised institutions may use to help identify, prevent, and respond to elder financial exploitation:

• Governance and Oversight – including policies and practices, internal controls, employee codes of conduct, open communication among departments, complaint management, and instilling a culture of compliance.
• Employee Training – clear, comprehensive, and ongoing employee training related to recognizing and responding to elder financial exploitation can increase a supervised institution’s ability to detect and report elder financial exploitation.
• Using Transaction Holds and Disbursement Delays – when legally permissible to do so, this may prevent consumer losses and allow a supervised institution time to investigate and respond to various situations that may involve elder financial exploitation. 
• Using Trusted Contacts – establish policies and procedures that enable applicants and/or account holders to designate one or more trusted contacts that employees can contact when elder financial exploitation is suspected.
• Filing SARs Involving Suspected Elder Financial Exploitation – In certain circumstances, filing a suspicious activity report (SAR) with FinCEN may be necessary. 
• Reporting to Law Enforcement, Adult Protective Services (APS), and/or Other Entities as Appropriate – timely reporting of elder abuse exploitation increases the likelihood of successful recovery of funds.  Voluntarily notifying law enforcement directly of suspected elder financial exploitation and the underlying facts may expedite and assist law enforcement investigation and prosecution.
• Providing Financial Records to Appropriate Authorities – in some instances and consistent with applicable law, supervised institutions may expedite documentation requests for Adult Protective Services, law enforcement, or other investigatory agencies for active elder financial exploitation cases.
• Engaging with Elder Fraud Prevention and Response Networks – networks can help supervised institutions engage in professional cross-training, multidisciplinary case review and coordination, and community education efforts related to elder financial exploitation.
• Consumer Outreach and Awareness – when consumers are informed about specific types of scams and understand perpetrators’ tactics, they are more likely to recognize a scam and are less likely to engage with a perpetrator or lose money. Supervised institutions can support their customers by providing timely information about trending scams and ways to avoid them.
  
  

In addition to financial losses, elder financial exploitation can result in increased reputational, operational, compliance, and other risks for supervised institutions. Banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders and other supervised institutions play an important role in combatting elder financial exploitation and supporting their customers who experience these crimes.