No, we do not believe that you should rely on a letter to release your customer’s financial records to the Department on Aging’s approved provider agency. You may release your customer’s financial records only in response to a subpoena from the approved provider agency, or when your institution suspects that an elderly customer or customer with a disability is being financially exploited.

We do not believe that the Adult Protective Services Act requires a bank to provide a customer’s financial records on a mere “written request.” That law does authorize the Department on Aging and its approved provider agencies to access financial records as part of their investigations. However, the requirement to “provide records . . . upon receipt of a written request and certification” applies only to provider agencies or “facilities” (such as nursing homes), not to financial institutions. 

Consequently, your bank should release a customer’s financial records only as authorized by the privacy requirements in the Illinois Banking Act or Regulation P. The Illinois Banking Act permits the disclosure of customer financial records to “the Department on Aging and its regional administrative and provider agencies,” but only “upon subpoena by the investigatory entity or the guardian” or if there is a suspicion of financial exploitation. We do not recommend relying on a letter — or any form of written request short of a subpoena — to release customer records to the Department on Aging. 

Your institution may choose to release customer records in the absence of a subpoena, on a suspicion that the customer is being financially exploited. The Adult Protective Services Act provides immunity from civil and criminal liability for reporting financial exploitation of an “eligible adult.” However, the term “eligible adult” is limited to individuals who do not live in one of eleven types of licensed nursing homes or care facilities. We recommend caution when reporting the suspected financial exploitation of an individual who does not qualify as an “eligible adult.”

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/13(a-5) (“A representative of the Department or a designated provider agency that is actively involved in an abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect investigation under this Act shall be allowed access to the financial records . . . of the eligible adult which are in the possession of any . . . financial institution . . . if necessary to complete the investigation mandated by this Act. The provider or facility shall provide such records to the representative upon receipt of a written request and certification from the Department or designated provider agency that an investigation is being conducted under this Act and the records are pertinent to the investigation.”)

• Illinois Banking Act, 205 ILCS 5/48.1(b)(16) (The prohibition on disclosing a customer’s financial records does not apply to the “furnishing of information to law enforcement authorities, the Illinois Department on Aging and its regional administrative and provider agencies, the Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General, or public guardians: (i) upon subpoena by the investigatory entity or the guardian, or (ii) if there is suspicion by the bank that a customer who is an elderly person or person with a disability has been or may become the victim of financial exploitation.”)

• Illinois Banking Act, 205 ILCS 5/48.1(b)(16) (“For the purposes of this item (16), the term: (i) ‘elderly person’ means a person who is 60 or more years of age, (ii) ‘disabled person’ means a person who has or reasonably appears to the bank to have a physical or mental disability that impairs his or her ability to seek or obtain protection from or prevent financial exploitation, and (iii) ‘financial exploitation’ means tortious or illegal use of the assets or resources of an elderly or disabled person, and includes, without limitation, misappropriation of the elderly or disabled person's assets or resources by undue influence, breach of fiduciary relationship, intimidation, fraud, deception, extortion, or the use of assets or resources in any manner contrary to law. A bank or person furnishing information pursuant to this item (16) shall be entitled to the same rights and protections as a person furnishing information under the Adult Protective Services Act and the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.”)

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/13(a-5) (“A representative of the Department or a designated provider agency that is actively involved in an abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect investigation under this Act shall be allowed access to the financial records . . . of the eligible adult which are in the possession of any . . . financial institution . . . if necessary to complete the investigation mandated by this Act. The provider or facility shall provide such records to the representative upon receipt of a written request and certification from the Department or designated provider agency that an investigation is being conducted under this Act and the records are pertinent to the investigation.”)

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/4(a) (“Any person who suspects the abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or self-neglect of an eligible adult may report this suspicion to an agency designated to receive such reports under this Act or to the Department.”)

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/4(a-7) (“A person making a report under this Act in the belief that it is in the alleged victim’s best interest shall be immune from criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action on account of making the report, notwithstanding any requirements concerning the confidentiality of information with respect to such eligible adult which might otherwise be applicable.”)

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/2(e) (“‘Eligible adult’ means either an adult with disabilities aged 18 through 59 or a person aged 60 or older who resides in a domestic living situation . . . .”)

• Adult Protective Services Act, 320 ILCS 20/2(d) (“‘Domestic living situation’ means a residence where the eligible adult at the time of the report lives alone or with his or her family or a caregiver, or others, or other community-based unlicensed facility, but is not:

(1) A licensed facility as defined in Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act;

(1.5) A facility licensed under the ID/DD Community Care Act

(1.6) A facility licensed under the MC/DD Act

(1.7) A facility licensed under the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013

(2) A ‘life care facility’ as defined in the Life Care Facilities Act

(3) A home, institution, or other place operated by the federal government or agency thereof or by the State of Illinois;

(4) A hospital, sanitarium, or other institution, the principal activity or business of which is the diagnosis, care, and treatment of human illness through the maintenance and operation of organized facilities therefor, which is required to be licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act

(5) A ‘community living facility’ as defined in the Community Living Facilities Licensing Act

(7) A ‘community-integrated living arrangement’ as defined in the Community-Integrated Living Arrangements Licensure and Certification Act or a ‘community residential alternative’ as licensed under that Act;

(8) An assisted living or shared housing establishment as defined in the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act

(9) A supportive living facility as described in Section 5-5.01a of the Illinois Public Aid Code.”)