Memo #1454: Interactions with Elderly Individuals and Dependent Adults
- Dwain Neff
- Mar 19, 2016
- 2 min read
Memo #1454: Interactions with Elderly Individuals and Dependent Adults
Vendors directly represent MCS and MCS’s Clients in the field. Some individuals, such as Elderly Individuals and Dependent Adults, may need additional assistance and explanation of specific procedures. To maintain integrity and provide our Clients with excellent service, please review the following and communicate with your network.
Elderly Individuals are defined as:
· Person Sixty (60) years or older
· Senior Citizen
· Refers to a person late in their life
Dependent Adults are defined as an individual eighteen (18) years of age or older that cannot adequately protect or care for themselves or their financial interests due to a physical or mental condition. This could be considered a disability.
How to manage communication with an Elderly/Dependent Adult:
· Be clear in your client direction
o Even if you already answered the question, they may not have understood
§ Try to find another way to phrase the response where it may be more clear or defined
· Be patient
o Let the individual explain their side of the story and ask their questions
· Be informative
o Provide all the steps/answers acceptable per client
· Be courteous
o Even if the individual’s temper escalates, be sure to always be calm and polite
· Be business professional
o MCS prides ourselves with having outstanding customer service. This should be portrayed to all people.
· Confirm understanding
o Make sure all questions were answered and the individual comprehends what was communicated
Financial Abuse:
· Spotting the clues of possible abuse is the first step in helping the individual. Although MCS does not provide financial guidance or release loan information to any caller, we must report any suspicion of financial abuse to the client immediately.
· Be observant
Signs of Potential Abuse:
Many financial agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recognized the problem of financial abuse with elderly/dependent adults and provide some guidance to spotting potential abuse to include, but are not limited to:
· Interactions
o Relatives or caregiver showing excessive interest in the older adult’s property
o Non-mortgagor tries to conduct business or transactions
o Older adult displays fear or submissiveness toward caregiver
o Older adult lacks knowledge about financial status
o Sudden change in caretaker
Reporting Potential Financial Abuse:
Any suspicion of financial abuse must be reported to MCS immediately.
· Document the occurrence
o Names of individuals involved, date, time, wording, etc.
o MCS may require explicit details of what happened
Sincerely,
Vendor Management
Mortgage Contracting Services
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