refund of entrance fee from assisted living

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. For the person(s) in the industry who responded--can you think of any other recourse? How do you think offering a percentage directly to the salesperson would play out? Thanks all.

And the salesperson is probably not the person deciding. You want to deal with the head administrator or their regional leader (or maybe even that persons boss) not anyone in the business or sales office as they probably are not authorized to make decisions on this scale (I am assuming multiples of 10,000's here). If they are a CCRC they are regulated by state licensing, a nursing license and likely insurance license both of which require them to post contact information in a place easily viewed by residents and the public. Also what you are suggesting is a kickback and could get an employee fired. I sympathize with your frustration...

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks all for the advice and thoughts. It's really an unpleasant situation in which to find myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a PP here, but I would write them a letter and request in writing information such as how many available units are there, how many units have been empty for longer than your unit, how many people have requested to view your unit, how many people have been shown your unit, etc. If they refuse to answer you and/or give vague answers, then I might start wondering if as a PP noted they are deliberately not trying to fill your unit so as to avoid paying your refund. While they have a contract right to not refund you until the unit is filled, all contracts have an obligation for the parties to act in good faith. If you have a basis for believing the center is deliberately acting in bad faith to avoid paying you you can certainly talk to an attorney to see if you have any legal recourse (well, you can obviously talk to an attorney regardless). It could just be your unit isn't getting filled bc the market is bad or maybe it is a less desirable unit bc it has less sunlight, is noisy, etc in which case you are probably stuck waiting it out. If you want to consider an attorney, I would look for a solo practitioner/small firm that would give you a free consultation that specializes in breach of contract/bad faith claims.

+1

[Anonymous]

Contact the ombudsman of assisted living and long term care in your state.

[Anonymous]

We got ours back relatively quickly (within a few months; in another state) but we proactively inquired just about every week or 10 days.

[Anonymous]

Had our mother in a similar facility. Please review your 200 page contract, because it spells out how long they can hold your refund of the entrance fee. Our ws either 12 months or until her unit was rented to someone else. Yup - we waited the full year