Queens Tribune

The New York State Assembly is looking at a comprehensive legislative package aimed at protecting senior citizens.
An estimated 30,000 seniors are victims of some sort of abuse or exploitation each year. This package that the Assembly is advancing conveys a clear message that victimization of New York’s senior citizens will not be tolerated.

Last year, a 101 year old woman was brutally beaten in Queens. Assembly bill 9818 would help curb predatory attacks by strengthening the penalties for those who perpetrate acts of violence against the elderly. The bill 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.

The assembly’s proposed plan will strengthen penalties for acts of violence against seniors. Proposals include making 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 just two vulnerable elderly persons. Another bill would 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 60 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.

The elderly are often taken advantage of by those they trust the most. This new legislation (A-6421-A) 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. 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.

Other bills 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.

Another bill would 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.