Northwest Florida lawmaker seeks approval of bill to protect victims of exploitation

by Tanner Stewart

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A lawmaker in Northwest Florida is seeking protection for victims of elderly exploitation, human trafficking and exploiting foster children.

In 2022 alone, WEAR News covered at least eight cases of elderly exploitation in Northwest Florida, which is part of the reason why Rep. Alex Andrade is working to add protection for those victims after their cases are settled.

"It's happening at a sufficient rate to add this protection," Rep. Andrade said.  

Under HB 113, titled "Contacting Consumer Debtors" -- debt collectors will not be allowed to contact any elderly person that is in debt, if that debt was a result of elderly exploitation.

But the new bill aims to go beyond helping elderly victims, by also adding protection for foster children, and victims of human trafficking.

Under the bill, any documented victim of human trafficking that may have accumulated debt under their name will be protected from debt collectors if there is proof of the crime -- this includes victims of identity theft.

The bill aims to protect foster children from being exploited by their guardians.

In one example, a parent could get a credit card in their child's name and rack up debt without the child knowing about it.

Rep. Andrade says the legislation will help get victims back on their feet quicker.

"You should get legally relieved of the obligation of debt collectors calling you day and night, having these letters sent to you, actions taken against you," Rep. Andrade said. "So this bill just says that these three new categories are included in those protections."

Josh Newby is the president and CEO of the Council on Aging West Florida. While his organization works to help victims 60-and-over in cases of all kinds, Newby says one industry is hitting the hardest lately -- solar.

"A lot of these seniors are 70-80yrs," Newby said. "Old and frankly don't have capacity to consent to this level of debt, but they're doing it because the sales person promises them the world, maybe under sells the impact of the debt. So for the past 6-9 months, that's been the primary source of financial exploitation that we've seen."

Newby says regardless of how the proposed bill will help prevent victims problems from compounding, by adding a new avenue of defense.

"It's gonna go a long way to giving them peace of mind and ultimately that's what we want to do," Newby said. "We want to make sure everything is ok but also ensure them that everything's ok."

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Northwest Florida lawmaker seeks approval of bill to protect victims of exploitation