Texas legislature passes law protecting seniors from financial abuse

A law making it more difficult to exploit seniors financially has passed both houses of the Texas Legislature and is on its way to the governor for signature. House Bill 3921 gives banks and securities firms the authority to place a temporary "hold" on suspicious transactions in an elderly or disabled person's account. It is designed to bolster fraud protection procedures already in place at most banks, said Jordan Taylor, a spokeswoman for Tan Parker, the representative who sponsored the bill with state senator Kelly Hancock. The law will allow banks and other financial firms to scrutinize any type of large, unusual transaction in a senior citizen's account before it's processed. "By allowing banks and securities firms to place temporary holds on suspicious transactions, the legislature is giving them a powerful tool to stop elder financial exploitation in its tracks," AARP said in a release. "We are one step closer to better protecting seniors from predators while ensuring financial services professionals do not inadvertently violate privacy laws," said Dale Brown, president and CEO of the Financial Services Institute, an independent broker-dealer trade group that supported passage of the bill.