Hi! A friend of mine discovered his elderly Dad gave financial POA to his live-in caregiver without realizing what he was signing. My friend is also POA, signed by Dad years ago. The live-in caregiver brought Dad to a fraudulent notary and the POA document got signed. Dad has never been diagnosed with dementia, appears OK, but if you spend time with him you’d notice his memory is bad.
My friend is worried for his Dad. He discovered a copy of the new POA lying around.
My friend is worried about what financial damage the live-in caregiver might already have done. (The live-in caregiver moved out 6 months ago).
For example, maybe the live-in caregiver took out loans in the name of Dad? Other scams? How would my friend know? What can my friend do to check? All Dad’s bank accounts appear totally normal, and the live-in caregiver clearly didn’t go to Dad’s banks with the POA document. But maybe the caregiver opened up new bank accounts in the name of Dad? How can my friend find out?
The POA should obtain a copy of the major Credit Reporting Agencies and monitor same. Anyone could be opening credit cards or obtaining loans without Dad's knowledge.
Put a credit freeze on Dad's accounts (Credit Profile) so it is real hard to open any new accounts without POA's knowledge. (Dad & POA should be sharing an online account that the POA monitors).
Activate the Dad's POA now, and have your friend take over Dad's finances.
What were the circumstances of the caregiver leaving?
POA is durable: already active immediately when signed. As you know, a person can sign as many POA documents as they want. Right now my friend is POA. The ex-caregiver (who left on good terms) is also POA, my friend discovered.
Dad can revoke that POA, but damage might already have been made.
“Put a credit freeze on Dad's accounts (Credit Profile)”
You mean on existing accounts? That’s been done. But what if the caregiver opened accounts at another bank, which Dad knows nothing about?
“The POA should obtain a copy of the major Credit Reporting Agencies and monitor same. Anyone could be opening credit cards or obtaining loans without Dad's knowledge.”
Do you mean it’s even possible for the caregiver to open credit cards in banks Dad knows nothing about?
By the way, my friend says ID card was also missing (most likely stolen). My friend reported to the police; got a new one for his Dad.
You can also freeze accounts which means it will be very difficult for anyone to get any credit. We had to do this in the past for my husband. We ran into a few problems when we were trying to get credit so just make sure you know how to unfreeze if you need to.
The caregiver may have Dads account/ routing number at bank. You may want to call the bank and have them change the account number. Just don’t forget any auto transactions that are setup as those will need to be changed too. Personally I use my credit card to pay for everything and just pay the balance every month. I don’t like giving my bank acct info out.
May be a good time to simplify Dads finances and lock up anything he doesn’t need like checks to acts he doesn’t use etc.
Good luck!
How to Protect Your Credit With a Security Freeze
Carrie Kerskie, Griffon Force, LLC | Updated January 25, 2022
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
There are 3 major credit bureaus: Transuniun, Experian and c Equfax. Freezing your credit, unfreeze will NOT cost money. If someone is trying to charge you for that, go to the official site.
You want to RUN a credit report for dad. You call or contact each of the above bureas and run a report. That is free once a year.
You want to go to SS.gov and sign up for a My Social Security Account and make sure no one else has.
See an Elder Law attorney right away and get your POA back in place. If Dad is this bad it is time for you to take on the finances so this cannot happen again. Yourname should be on his accounts as POA. Do this the right way, and make certain everything is aware of this woman and that she is claiming to be POA.
Your Dad may soon be unable to do a new POA, so this needs to be fixed and fixed right right away. So sorry this happened. Your new POA will reinstate you, but that doesn't mean that all of dad's banks and charge accounts, and etc know this. You should call Experian and transunion and equifax and put either a fraud alert on his credit OR freeze his credit (the best way).
It may not even be legal. Freezing his accts is a good move. I may close down banking accts and open new ones. Keep check on places he normally shopped on-line. Check his email regularly for any orders placed.
Each major credit bureau has a main customer service support phone number:
Experian: 888-397-3742.
Equifax: 888-378-4329.
TransUnion: 888-909-8872.
Once you call, you will either be prompted to answer a few questions or will be directly connected to an agent who can route your call based on the action you’d like to take.
Credit bureau self-service websites
Each of the credit bureaus has a self-service page on its website dedicated to common customer questions and popular services. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion offer users the ability to:
Request a credit report.
Dispute an item or issue on a credit report.
Freeze and unfreeze your credit (or the credit of a minor or incapacitated person you're helping).
Report or monitor fraudulent activity or identity theft.
These self-service pages also allow you to complete these actions online and by mail. Many contain downloadable and printable forms for mailing as well as secure portals where you can submit requests virtually.