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CHARLESTON – The West Virginia chapter of an organization that advocates for older people is calling on state lawmakers to implement fraud protections for state residents.
Polling by AARP West Virginia found that the majority of voters in the state want legislators to pass bills protecting residents from frauds and scams, the organization announced Thursday.
A poll of 1,009 registered West Virginia voters found that 85% of voters say they’re much more likely to vote for a candidate who advocates for fraud prevention. A majority of voters no matter their age and party affiliation support fraud protection, the poll found.
Full results from the poll are available at the organization’s website.
“Fraud is no longer just a crime problem, it’s a kitchen table issue threatening the life savings of West Virginia families,” AARP state director Gaylene Miller told reporters Thursday. An overwhelming majority of voters want lawmakers to implement better protections for frauds and scams, including cryptocurrency ATM kiosks and real estate fraud, she said.
Cryptocurrency ATMS are unregulated in many states, including West Virginia, Miller said. Twenty-four states have taken some action to protect consumers and 17 states have passed comprehensive legislation to protect consumers from scams that use crypto kiosks.
“It is critical that the Legislature address this issue this session by bringing some common sense solutions to protect consumers from crypto fraud,” Miller said.
As of Thursday, a bill regulating cryptocurrency kiosks was in the works but hadn’t been introduced, an AARP representative said.
The organization is also focused on eliminating real estate fraud and curtailing gift card fraud, Miller said.
“Real estate fraud is also a growing issue as deed fraud is on the rise,” Miller said. “Criminals forge property documents, resulting in devastating financial and emotional harm for victims, that destabilizes communities and erodes generational wealth. This is another issue of focus for us this legislative session.”
Del. Patrick Lucas, R-Cabell, a real estate broker by trade, is one of the sponsors of House Bill 4493, the West Virginia Real Estate Wholesaling Accountability Act, which is pending in the House Agriculture, Commerce and Tourism committee.
Wholesalers will approach someone to purchase their property, often for as low a price as they can, and then assign that purchase to another buyer who’s willing to pay more, Lucas explained. The homeowner will show up at a closing only to find out that they’re not closing with who they thought they were, and for a different price.
“The homeowner is getting what the original deal was, but the person they’re actually selling the property to is paying more for that, and the wholesaler’s getting the money for it,” Lucas said. “A lot of people call it equity stealing, because they’re basically going in and trying to get a home below market value, and then assign that contract to somebody who wants to buy it for market value, and then they make money on it.”
Many of the victims of wholesaling are vulnerable populations, he said. Under Lucas’ legislation, the wholesaler would have to disclose in the contract that they intend to assign the contract to another buyer for more money.
“That’s the biggest part of the problem, is they’re not telling those people, and then at the end nobody wants to feel like they’re being mean at a closing and walk away,” he said. “But that’s exactly what they should do if they didn’t know that.”
Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, is sponsoring House Bill 4461, which would require internet providers to give customers a prorated credit when their service is disrupted. The bill is on third reading and up for a vote Friday.
Del. Eric Brooks, R-Raleigh, is sponsoring House Bill 4990, which aims to eliminate gift card fraud. The bill, which has yet to be discussed in the House Judiciary Committee, would add a new section of code defining gift card fraud and related terms, and establishing that a person who uses gift cards to fraud people in excess of $1,000 is guilty of grand theft.
“These cards are manipulated at the point of sale, and so the person that’s buying the card,” Brooks said. “Oftentimes it’s when they purchase it, the money is already taken off of the card. So when they have the card, it’s not worth the money they just gave for it. So we’re trying to help the folks that are victims of that, obviously.”
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