The Villages is located in Sumter County, Florida. According to FOX Business, The Villages is the fastest-growing city in America. The city, one of the fastest-growing retirement communities, also shares the same name as The Villages retirement community. It’s a Manhattan-sized city “with more golf carts than New York has taxis,” according to a Bloomberg report.
While the elder population and retirement communities have grown relatively crime-free, the senior population is not impervious to other financial threats. For aging seniors and retirees, elder financial fraud remains a potential problem.
Elder financial abuse and exploitation is one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse of seniors, with some studies estimating the aggregate cost to victims anywhere from $2.9 billion to $36 billion each year. Additionally, a great deal of elder financial abuse and exploitation go unreported.
As the senior population continues to grow, the issue of elder financial fraud is poised to continue to grow.
The issue of elder financial fraud is not limited to close friends and family, though. Sometimes, it is carried out by paid professionals, brokers, and/or brokerage firms right under the nose of the victim. This sort of financial fraud entails unsuitable recommendations, overconcentration, selling away, unauthorized trading, churning, misappropriation and various other forms of securities misconduct.
Some securities products that are often unsuitable for seniors are non-traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), private placements, oil and gas master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), variable annuities, and other speculative, risky and/or high-fees investments.
The Villages has numerous brokers and brokerage firms operating in and around the area, serving numerous seniors and residents of the Florida city.
Silver Law Group has represented and is currently representing elder investors who have lost much of their life savings due to Wall Street greed and disregard of elder abuse and exploitation laws.
If you or a loved one is a resident of The Villages, Florida and have lost money investing due to violation of elder abuse and exploitation laws and/or other securities misconduct, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses.