District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo filed a counsel consideration request Wednesday asking the city to strengthen protections against financial exploitation on older residents, including door-to-door, telephone and online scams.
The proposal directs city staff to evaluate strategies aimed at reducing elder financial exploitation — a growing public safety concern in San Antonio.
According to state data, more than 1,100 allegations of senior exploitation were reported in Bexar County last year, though national research from the Crime Victims’ Institute indicates that only 1 in 25 cases of elderly financial abuse are ever reported.
One focus of the CCR is changing the city’s door-to-door solicitation ordinance. Castillo said her office frequently hears from residents about door-to-door interactions with contractors or salespeople, particularly those offering solar panel installations. Some residents reported to her office that vendors failed to perform promised work and paid contractors disappeared, she said.
“While the CCR does include a wide number of proposals, what I think there is value in exploring is the door-to-door outreach and establishing regulations similar to Dallas in having hours in which solicitors can go to one’s door,” she said. “This wouldn’t be limited to just seniors, but it would allow the public to know when there is a trusted vendor at your door.”
Changes proposed in the CCR to the ordinance include restricting solicitation after sunset and on Sundays, bonding requirements for solicitors who require cash deposits or payment for future delivery, and issuing ID badges that would be displayed both by vendors and on their vehicles after registering with the city.
The request also asks staff to assess additional measures aimed at reducing opportunities for fraud. Those include improved access to legal aid for seniors who need help establishing guardianships or creating living wills; stronger coordination with financial institutions and law enforcement to identify suspicious activity; and identifying and lobbying for potential improvements to federal and state laws protecting older adults.
Practical tools such as auto-enrollment assistance for federal and state do-not-call registries, a local hotline for seniors who want to verify a vendor and city-issued “No Soliciting” signs are also proposed in the CCR. Outreach initiatives — including multilingual guides, technology how-to materials, seminars and public service announcements — aim to help older residents understand their rights and recognize potential scams.
Castillo said a key component of providing these services and addressing underreporting lies in the need to create “trusted spaces” where older adults feel comfortable asking questions or reporting concerns. She pointed to city senior centers as potential sites where residents could enroll in do-not-call registries, receive guidance and be connected to services.
The CCR received support from Districts 8, 1, 3 and 6 for inclusion on the agenda of the earliest available Governance Committee meeting. If it moves forward, Castillo said she would look at several benchmarks to determine whether the city’s strategies are working.
“If we are successful with updating the closest door-to-door solicitation ordinance, my expectation is we will track how many vendors are registering, and then how many calls we are getting in terms of questions about, ‘Hey, is this a registered vendor with the city?’” she said. “Those are some metrics that I would expect to see, as well as how many seniors within our senior centers are already auto-enrolling in the federal and state do-not-call registry, and how many new seniors are coming to the centers expressing interest in enrolling.”
With the holiday season approaching, Castillo encouraged seniors and families to take extra steps before signing contracts or paying deposits.
“What we’re encouraging folks to do is call a loved one or trusted individual to fact-check and see if it’s a legitimate contractor,” she said. “Get a second opinion if this is something you should continue to move forward with.”
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