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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 560
2025-2026
Representatives Swearingen, White, A.
To
enact sections 1349.13, 1349.14, 1349.141, 1349.142, 1349.15,
1349.151, 1349.152
,
and 5101.703
of the Revised Code
to
prevent financial exploitation and fraud against vulnerable adults
and to name this act the Protect Our Parents Act.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 1349.13, 1349.14, 1349.141, 1349.142, 1349.15, 1349.151,
1349.152
,
and 5101.703
of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
1349.13.
As
used in sections 1349.13 to 1349.152 of the Revised Code:
(A)
"Depository institution" means a bank, savings bank,
savings and loan association, or credit union that is subject to
regulation or supervision by the United States or any state.
"Depository institution" includes an employee of any such
institution.
(B)
"Division" means the division of financial institutions in
the department of commerce or the superintendent of financial
institutions.
(C)
"Eligible adult" means either of the following:
(1)
A person sixty years of age or older;
(2)
A person eligible to receive protective services pursuant to sections
5101.60 to 5101.71 of the Revised Code.
(D)
"Financial exploitation" means either of the following:
(1)
The wrongful or unauthorized taking, withholding, directing,
appropriation, or use of money, assets, or property of an eligible
adult;
(2)
Any act or omission by a person, including through the use of a power
of attorney or guardianship of an eligible adult, to do either of the
following:
(a)
Obtain control, through deception, intimidation, or undue influence,
of money, assets, or property of an eligible adult and thereby
deprive the eligible adult of the ownership, use, benefit, or
possession of the money, assets, or property;
(b)
Convert money, assets, or property of an eligible adult and thereby
deprive the eligible adult of the ownership, use, benefit, or
possession of the money, assets, or property.
(E)"Transaction"
includes a disbursement from an account.
(F)(1)
"Trusted contact" means a natural person eighteen years of
age or older whom the account owner has expressly identified and
recorded in a depository institution's books and records as the
person who may be contacted about the account or the account owner to
address possible financial exploitation or to confirm the specifics
of any of the following:
(a)
The account owner's current contact information or health status;
(b)
The identity of any conservator, executor, trustee, or individual or
entity granted a power of attorney;
(c)
Any other concern reasonably related to the administration of the
account.
(2)
"Trusted contact" may include a joint account owner or an
individual or entity who has been granted a power of attorney.
Sec.
1349.14.
(A)
If a depository institution has reasonable cause to believe that an
eligible adult who is an account holder may be subject to past,
current, or attempted financial exploitation, then both of the
following apply:
(1)
The depository institution shall follow any internal written policy,
program, plan, or procedure adopted by the depository institution for
the purpose of establishing protocols for the reporting of past,
current, or attempted financial exploitation.
(2)(a)
The depository institution may place a hold on any transaction
impacted by the past, current, or attempted financial exploitation
for a period of time not to exceed fifteen business days.
(b)
At any time, the division, the county department of job and family
services, or a court of competent jurisdiction may terminate or
extend a hold placed under division (A)(2)(a) this section.
(B)(1)
The depository institution shall report any transactional hold placed
pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section, along with a summary of
the facts and circumstances leading up to the hold, in writing,
immediately to the division and the county department of job and
family services for the county in which the eligible adult resides.
(2)
The summary required by division (B)(1) of this section may be
reported via electronic means.
(C)
The depository institution making a report to the division and the
county department of job and family services pursuant to division (B)
of this section may continue the transactional hold at the request of
an investigating federal or state agency or if the depository
institution has not heard from either the division or the county
department of job and family services within the initial fifteen-day
hold period.
(D)
Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting a depository
institution's ability to seek injunctive relief from a court of
competent jurisdiction at any time for any past, current, or
attempted financial exploitation.
Sec.
1349.141.
(A)
Except as provided in division (C) of this section, if the depository
institution places a hold pursuant to section 1349.14 of the Revised
Code, then not later than three business days after the date on which
the hold was first placed, the depository institution may notify, in
writing, all of the following of the hold and the reason for the
hold:
(1)
All parties authorized to transact business on the account;
(2)
Any trusted contact on the account.
(B)(1)
The depository institution shall notify all persons notified under
division (A) of this section by using the contact information
provided for the account.
(2)
The notification required under division (A) of this section may be
provided by electronic means.
(C)
A depository institution shall not send a notification under this
section to any party it reasonably believes has engaged in, is
engaging in, has attempted to engage in, or will attempt to engage in
the suspected financial exploitation of the eligible adult.
(D)
Any notice provided under this section may be provided
electronically.
Sec.
1349.142.
Any
record of a transactional hold under sections 1349.13 to 1349.152 of
the Revised Code, any report relating to the hold, and any
notification of the hold shall be maintained by the depository
institution for not less than five years.
Sec.
1349.15.
(A)
Before placing a hold on a disbursement or transaction pursuant to
section 1349.14 of the Revised Code, a depository institution shall
do both of the following:
(1)
Conduct training for employees described in division (B) of this
section as soon as reasonably practicable and maintain a written
record of all training conducted, if such training is developed. With
respect to an individual who begins employment with a depository
institution after the effective date of this section, such training,
if developed, shall be conducted within one year after the date on
which the individual becomes employed by, or affiliated or associated
with, the depository institution;
(2)
Develop, maintain, and enforce written procedures regarding the
manner in which suspected financial exploitation is reviewed
internally, including, if applicable, the manner in which suspected
financial exploitation is required to be reported to supervisory
personnel.
(B)
A depository institution may develop training policies or programs
reasonably designed to educate employees who perform or approve
transactions on behalf of customers on issues pertaining to financial
exploitation of eligible adults.
Sec.
1349.151.
(A)
Any person participating in good faith in making a report or placing
a transactional hold pursuant to sections 1349.13 to 1349.152 of the
Revised Code is immune from any civil or administrative liability
arising from the report or hold.
(B)
A person is immune from any civil or administrative liability arising
from failing to place a transactional hold pursuant to sections
1349.13 to 1349.152 of the Revised Code, provided the person attempts
in good faith to comply with those sections.
Sec.
1349.152.
The
superintendent of financial institutions may adopt rules in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement the
requirements of sections 1349.13 to 1349.151 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
5101.703.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Petitioner" means the county department of job and family
services, the department's designee, or the county prosecutor that
brings a petition pursuant to section 5101.701 or 5101.702 of the
Revised Code, an adult, or a person empowered to act on behalf of an
adult pursuant to Chapter 1337. of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Unascertainable person" means a person whose identity
cannot be determined or whose identity is unknown, and who has
communicated with an adult through any means that make tracing the
person's identity impractical.
(B)(1)
If the petitioner seeks a temporary protection order against an
unascertainable person or seeks to stop the proposed transfer of the
adult's funds or property to an unascertainable person, the
petitioner shall file with the court a sworn affidavit that includes
the following:
(a)
The facts leading the petitioner to believe that the person is an
unascertainable person;
(b)
Information regarding how the unascertainable person and the adult
have been in contact;
(c)
All identifying information for the unascertainable person that is
known to the petitioner or the adult, including pseudonyms, tax
identification numbers, electronic mail addresses, telephone numbers,
software application programs used, or social media usernames and
handles;
(d)
The facts leading the petitioner to believe that a proposed or
initiated transfer of funds or property by the adult is a response to
a fraudulent request by the unascertainable person;
(e)
A description of the petitioner's attempts to identify the
unascertainable person, including using the same method of
communication that the unascertainable person used to communicate
with the adult.
(2)
If the court determines that the person is an unascertainable person
based on the petitioner's affidavit, the court shall enter an order
requiring the petitioner to serve the unascertainable person through
the same means of communication that the unascertainable person used
to communicate with the adult. The substitute service shall be made
not later than two working days after the date the court issues the
order.
(3)
The petitioner shall file with the court proof, including a sworn
affidavit with screenshots, that the petitioner has attempted to
serve the unascertainable person in accordance with division (B)(2)
of this section. This constitutes substitute service on the
unascertainable person.
(C)
In accordance with an order issued under section 5101.701 or 5101.702
of the Revised Code and if using substitute service in accordance
with this section, a proposed transfer of funds or property in
dispute must be held for thirty days, beginning on the date of the
issuance of the order, before such funds or property may be
distributed for the benefit of the adult.
(D)
The provisions of this section shall be construed in such a way as to
best operate for the benefit and protection of an adult in need of
protective services.
Section
2.
This
act shall be known as the Protect Our Parents Act.