Posted on 08/27/2024 10:09:22 AM PDT by nickcarraway
As Jean Jacques celebrated her 96th birthday in July, she never considered that just one month later, she would be advocating for the roof over her head.
Jacques has called Pacific Grove Senior Living her home for 22 years. On Aug. 16, the facility gave Jacques a three-day eviction notice. The notice states that Jacques must pay her outstanding balance of about $110,000 or vacate her unit.
Advertisement The issue? It was Jacques' understanding that she would be taken care of for life — regardless of whether she outlived her savings.
The eviction notice was issued by Pacifica Senior Living, the parent company for Pacific Grove Senior Living. When Pacifica acquired the facility from California-Nevada Methodist Homes in 2022, there was an expectation that existing contracts would be honored.
Though the previous owner's contracts were grandfathered in, their policies were not.
President of Pacific Grove Senior Living's Residents' Association, Bob Sadler, says that contracts for "lifetime care" like the one Jacques signed were considered unconditional under the previous owners.
Because some residents pass away before their contract finishes, evictions were not issued to those who outlived their savings, per Sadler. With this in mind, Jacques says the eviction notice came as a surprise.
Recommended Mariah Carey's mother and sister died on the same day. The singer says her 'heart is broken' The wording of the notice itself has come into question as well.
Elizabeth Campos, ombudsman project manager at the Alliance for Aging, says the notice was not approved by Community Care Licensing. Additionally, the notice did not include instructions on how to appeal.
"You do get angry knowing that it's an elderly person," Campos said. "Where is this person going to go?"
"She's devoted all of her savings and money to this place," Sadler said. "I don't care what the legal ramifications are here. This is morally unthinkable."
Jacques has not been contacted by the facility's business office since receiving the eviction notice. Attempts to contact the office by the Alliance for Aging and the Residents' Committee have received no reply. KSBW also reached out to the office without reply.
"I'm not going. They'll have to bury me because I have no place to go," Jacques said. "They have all my money."
Let the president of the company personally escort the old woman out the door.
The usually happy little secret of assisted living communities is that they don’t ever evict their seniors. Of course, they’ll never advertise that, but they don’t because of it’s bad PR. Shockingly, the life span for any senior in such a community is only 3.5 years! Plus, a good finance officer can work through to Medicaid with the senior or her family. It might mean a downgrade in some services or, perhaps the room, but this eviction is rare. Maybe they are charging their policy now, to be ready for the “Senior Tsunami”, where waiting lists to get in are growing larger each year.
> It’s hard to believe you pay a lump sum and then never have to pay rent again. <
From what I can tell (see my post #34), you pay a lump sum plus a monthly fee. That fee comes from your Social Security plus any pension. The “free stay” kicks in only when your assets can no longer cover the fee.
Again, that’s only what I’ve seen. An older friend of the family resides in one of those places. It’s very nice, and she’s happy to be there. The home takes her entire Social Security check as the monthly fee. Then they give her $50 monthly for pocket money.
Maybe that sounds harsh, but she’d be the first to tell you it’s a good deal for her.
Well, I'm not punishing anyone.
I'm just saying that one of her defenders is openly saying that he doesn't care what the law says. That ought to be concerning, if this a matter that is headed to court. Hopefully, there is appropriate language in a legal document that supports this women. The guy I quoted may not care about the legal ramifications -- but I bet the judge does.
Libertarianism is a mental disorder.
just renounce US citizenship & squat
By the way, Pacific Grove is a very expensive and desirable area. So I am guessing the monthly dues far exceed the social security check. I guess the moral is if your retirement plan does not include eating cat food to get by, save up as much as you can now.
While the contract dictates what the agreement consists of, the company’s actions reveal their morals, ethics, and humanity. Or lack thereof.
The right thing to do, at a minimum, is to ensure this 95 year old person will have a soft landing into a new home. To simply give an eviction notice with 72 hours is beyond unconscionable, it’s evil. Help the lady.
Libertarians don’t believe in contracts?
Well, when a business buys out another business, that usually includes its debts. Maybe not enough information here, but it sounds like the new management should honor the old contract. Its probably a legal case to be made, but not sure how the resident here can afford to address it with attorneys.
???
Also, Pacific Grove started out as a Methodist resort. Well, after it was a Chinese fishing village.
You said libertarianism is a mental disorder.
“Hire the best elder lawyer in the state... then take the facility to the cleaners.”
That is why we have had the same regular lawyer for about 50 years.
Then, we added an elder lawyer last year.
You seem to be miss-thinking this. Theoretically, it is only Communism if the government is doing that. If a contract to live in a retirement home requires taking over all personal investments to move in there, it should be in perpetuity.
The corporation is betting on the odds that most residents die before their savings are used up so that a portion of those funds offset the cost of the small fraction that live to be nonagenarians.
You know, like our Social Security was supposed to work if Congress hadn't been stealing funds from us over the decades. Hint: like even now giving it to illegals.
This is probably legal and in the contract, but it shows just own mercenary these senior living facility contracts are. They take your money and then throw you out. That’s not illegal. Its a complete scumbag thing to do but its not illegal. I would never go to live in one of these places. Ever.
it said the Methodist church had owned it, therefore, their agreement would have probably been for life (including funeral).
And, yes, what you wrote is exactly how they do and did operate. I guess there should be a clause that the residents agreements upon entry must be honored by any subsequent ownership./buyer..
It's not a lump sum, it's a surrender of all you assets as well as future income from any investments and your social security.
Bkmk
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