Blind Senior Bilked For $100K+ In Home Improvement Horror Story After Fire Damages Home

In Jacksonville, Florida, The Florida Times Union reports:

• [Mary] Lindsey, 66, has gone totally blind since [a] January 2009 fire devastated her Westside Jacksonville home. But she doesn't need her eyes to see that things have gone horribly awry.

• Where a contractor promised new replacement appliances, there is an old, cracked stove and an aging refrigerator. Where she believed there were improvements to her backyard, the old fence still stands and her pool is filled with construction debris. Where she thought she was financially stable if not comfortable, she now finds herself out more than $100,000.

• And although advocates call her case extreme, they also believe that there could be more and more seniors who, like Lindsey, are falling victim to fraud and scams. Yet there have never been more resources to help seniors avoid them or get help if they do have a problem. It's just a matter of finding them before it's too late.

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• For Mary Lindsey, there is now a glimmer of hope in the 18-month ordeal that left her with incomplete home repairs and facing foreclosure after she signed one too many papers at the request of a contractor. Her daughter and son-in-law have arrived to help. And after a well-placed call to ElderSource,(1) she is getting legal help as well as help from volunteers in the community who heard her story.

For more, see First Coast seniors get more help to avoid scams (New programs offer assistance to those in need of protection from fraud and scams).

(1) According to their website, ElderSource is a a private, not for profit, independent agency, is the state designated Area Agency on Aging and Aging Resource Center for Northeast Florida covering Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns and Volusia counties, and belongs to a nation wide network of over 650 Area Agencies on Aging.