Medical issues including weeks in a hospital made it impossible for my mother to remain in her assisted living apartment. She had lived there only two days with furniture borrowed from the facility before going to the hospital. Her personal belongings were never moved in so the apartment remained empty. After determining two weeks into her hospital stay that she would require more care than this assisted living facility could provide, the required 30-day notice was given, keys returned and days were paid for through June 15, 2022. Then the assisted care facility goes and moves another (paying) resident into the same apartment MANY DAYS prior to that June 15th date.
Is this even legal for them to double-dip and charge twice for the same assisted living apartment ? If it is legal because of some assisted living loophole, I know it's morally wrong and I think it's illegal in the housing rental market. It's just not right.
When my folks moved out of their IL apartment, I had to give 60 days notice. I moved them out WELL BEFORE 60 days, however, and turned in the keys. Do you think the apartment manager felt the need to wait 60 days before renting the apartment to someone else? Neither do I.
If mom's lease was written that she had to give 30 days notice of vacating, then the AL could indeed move someone else into her place as long as it was empty.
My mother died while living in Memory Care Assisted Living. I had to pay for 15 days past the day of her death, to the tune of $1550, even though I had her things cleaned out within a few days after she passed. The MC was free to rent her room out the moment they finished cleaning the unit.
When I was young we bought a house before our lease was up. The penalty was we had to pay two months rent to get out of the lease. We were told they had someone in the apt right after we left. I was going to check out the law then but DH said not to worry about it.
Most ALF have an online presence in which they depend upon the input of people in evaluating them. They are truly concerned about what is written about them.
In the case of my brother he died in the first week of the month. His place was cleaned out a week later. They refunded me the rest of his month's rental even though they didn't have someone coming in at once. So I would say that is best practice, which his facility was in all they did.
I would speak to the admin about them. I would tell them that you would like that amount refunded. I would tell them that if they double charged that is morally fairly reprehensible and you would be leaving what feedback you can on social media regarding that practice.
Good luck.
it’s sad they didn’t refund you the days she wasn’t living there. Go over their head..and see if you can get any where.
my moms AL required a 30 day notice.
when my mom died in memory care , I got all her days not there refunded..
National Consumer Voice (theconsumervoice.org)
Mother was discharged from hospital to hospice that was in an adult family home - a very nice afh that I found for her to the tune of $12,000/mo. 'Rent' was due on the 30th or 31st before the new month.
Mother began at the afh on May 16th (had to give them a check for the days of 5/16-5/31 plus an administrative fee of $3,000)I gave them the check on May 31st ($12,000) for the month of June. The evening of June 1st, mother was admitted to hospice care in the hospital where they were trying to manage her pain that the pain protocol wasn't addressing and she had become catatonic. I was fully expecting her to return to the afh within a few days. Mother passed away a few days later, never returning to the afh.
The afh was legally able to keep the entire month of June rent because of a fine, super fine print clause that was buried in the 65 pages of admitting paperwork that, (my bad), I didn't go through line by line, page by page, because I pressed for time to get her into the place (hospital gave me 3 days to find hospice care for her outside the hospital and this was during Covid lockdowns). AND, the facility was able to turn around the rent the room to another patient for the month of June, thereby collecting double rent on one bed.
So, is it legal - all depends what the contract says. Is it wrong - absolutely. I consider it taking advantage of people in vulnerable times and situations.