Is it unreasonable for an assisted living facility to raise the rent by $700 per month during a national crisis that we are in?

I am very sorry to hear that this AL chose to do this. I have no idea why this has happened in this case so I will not speculate.

I can tell you that crisis situations bring out the best in people and the worst in people. This happened in my city after a horrendous hurricane. After Hurricane Katrina rent and housing costs went up significantly.

Sadly, many of us lost our homes and all of their contents and greedy landlords and real estate owners took advantage to people needing homes and prices shot up in the city and the entire metro area, (burbs).

I hope that kindness will prevail during these awful times. As bad as a hurricane or other natural disasters are, this is worse. It is global!

We have seen wonderful acts of generosity and kindness. We have also seen stupidity and ignorance such as people deliberately disobeying regulations regarding the coronavirus. Very sad and selfish of these people to do.

Follow up with this. I would at least ask if you could delay the additional payment if it is out of your reach at this time. Again, I am sorry that you are dealing with this situation. Let us know if this is resolved to your satisfaction. We care.

Best wishes to you and your family. 💗

Contact the Ombudsman's office in your area. If you get nowhere with that, contact the Attorney General's office for your state. That seems like a sort of gouging to me...at this particular time.

What state are you in?
I believe that it isn’t allowed now in NY and NJ.

No, why are they raising the price that much for what they should have been doing anyway. The death rates in the elder care facilities are outrageous. They should have been taking extra precautions because the elderly's immune systems are already predisposed to illness. I would ask them why such a price hike.

Unfortunately, James, when your money runs out, an AL can evict you. (just like any apartment rental)Probably with virus crisis, they may have to hold on to residents for now. As a former care manager, I have seen several elders seeking placement once funds for AL were exhausted. It is also a problem to get a nursing home placement. Must have a qualifying medical need, and if no money, have to qualify for Medicaid. (That's no easy task with 5 year look back) I have seen families take in their "evicted" elder.

Here in California all you have to have is a 30 day notice. Assisted living facilities are generally privately owned and they can do whatever they want.

I would check my contract before I did anything else to see if it has a cap or a time span on increases. When and how much was the last increase? Did you get an advance notice of this increase? are you the power of attorney or could the notice of the increase have gone to your mother? As others have suggested has the level of care increased? If it has, this raise could be in line with what is charged. Although we are fairly sure they are not attempting to hire more CNAs additional cost to any facility in the present time might be related to additional purchases required for masks and protective clothing . This type of cost would have to be spread across all residents in the facility even though your loved one may not be showing any symptoms or have the virus. Regardless of increase, it unfortunately will not go into the pockets of the hard-working understaffed CNAs in the facility.
I wish you good luck in your attempt to find out what the increase is about and I do hope you will keep the forum informed as to your findings.

You need to talk speak with the Director , If a "level of care " has changed then that may be the reason , But even then they would have given a notice and the POA would have to agree to the payment. If you did everything you can , get an lawyer. .

The sad thing about a nursing home or assisted living is they can charge whatever

Did you receive any advance notice in writing regarding the rate increase? I know of a couple in assisted living whose rate was raised in January, 2020. Typically, costs increase not decrease depending on expenditures. Not for profit facilities need to break even; for profit facilities want to show a profit. Assisted living residents have care plans which outline what services each resident receives based on needs. Had your mother's care plan changed? Is she receiving an increased level of care? Maybe it would be worthwhile to speak with the executive director of the facility to review her bill.

What does your contract say on your increase rate a year

Have you gone over the Plan Of Care? Are you the Power Of Attorney? Typically if the Plan of Care changes, the Person Served and/or POA need to sign off on the additional charges — if you have questions or concerns, this is the time to speak up about them.

If you haven’t had that conversation with the AL admins, then going to news stations, etc. will do no good. You MUST do your due diligence — be firm, speak up and get to the bottom of the increase. If they’re unwilling to have the conversation, then by all means take another route.

Are you sure that's a rent increase and not a "Level of Care" increase (in our area, $700 is roughly the increment between care levels)?

Unrelated to the pandemic, has your mom started needing more care? That's something that is tracked and evaluated usually monthly.

This issue highlights the need for Family Councils in long-term care homes, so that families have a way of communicating with each other, comparing experiences to see which complaints may be prevalent and which are specific to one resident. And, it's a way for families to present concerns and need to management in a unified way. This is what these facilities fear, and why they dig their heels in on this issue of family groups. I wold love it if this forum could be an avenue to establish these groups, but I think AC may be sponsored by the long-term care industry. We need to push for this with our county ombudsmen. I was able to use this leverage to get a council started.

Ask now for email, website, whatever link you can have for correspondence to residents and business policy. My parent had a note tucked under her door. She just tossed it on the table and then screamed bloody murder ( to me)when the billing increased. I had to get ( with a POA) the "expanded" version of the billing. Even that was vague. Saying "due to increased costs" is not enough. I did notice that an entire new A/C system was being installed. Aren't companies supposed to have coverage and warranties for taking care of breakdowns? I had to request more info from a staff person and even that was vague. With this current virus situation, the company should be getting $ from the business funding bill passed. And, clarify with them if it is a temporary raise in fees due to virus expenses.

I doubt that they are using all that extra income to hire new staff, unfortunately, or to raise the wages of the aides. This is probably an opportunistic price hike. I like the idea of the writer who told you to send copies to all the papers, etc. and to contact the ombudsman in your county, also state agencies. What a dirty trick. Good luck with this.

I wonder how the meeting went. I’d suggest checking with the long term care ombudsman. They may also know of low or no cost legal services in your area. 10 days notice of an increase sounds like not enough. Typically it would be 30 or 60 days prior to the change. This is a good reason to have a contract.

IDK if this is legal or warranted. However . . .

1. Make many copies of the letter. Preserve the original in a safe place.

2. Send the copies to local newspaper, TV and your elected officials. U.S. Representative, Senate, state Rep and Senate, city or county council, state agency on aging/elderly affairs.

3. Do not have any meetings with home administration without recording or a witness.

This may seem harsh, but while I am not a lawyer, this smacks of price gouging to me. If is not, that it was a planned increase or otherwise legitimate, the care home can document that. I hope this all works out.

My guess would be they are taking advantage of the ability to charge extra for meals delivered to rooms.

Check with the state. In Florida you need to be notified in writing of a rate increase. I believe it is 60 days.

Someone is profiting unjustly, like an unscrupulous administrator or the company. I'd get an attorney. Unfortunately, there isn't much guidance when it comes to assisted living... only skilled nursing.

I believe they call that Covid-19 profiteering, and it's illegal. Strange, too, in what's essentially a viral greenhouse...

I would call the director of the facility and demand that they freeze any price hikes or you will be calling your local news station.  That is criminal and I am pretty sure they have to give you a certain amount of notice before they have an increase. 

They know folks are stuck right now....we can't get into the facilities to handle the tasks that we once did for our family member and we can't move them anywhere.  If they have increased expenses, they need to get on board with the other businesses and take advantage of some of the bail outs the government is offering.

I know my mom doesn't have an extra $700 per month.  What are they going to do if your mom doesn't have an extra $700 a month....kick her out?

I'd call that a price gouge, if USA, report them to the State Attorney General & DOI.

Probably their investors want to gage their loses in the market and still pay bonuses. Cynical, yep. As has been reported in this forum more than once, most of these livings centers for seniors are privately run investor-driven properties. Last year - January 2019 -- my mother's LTC jumped $500 (we've since changed facilities), without so much as a letter saying "thank you, but...". It's not a though these increased funds are going to pay the CNAs a living wage -- this I would support.

Is it rent or an additional service she might now need? That is usually where the big increases come from.

Was her husband a war veteran? Deceased? I was able to secure $1100/month towards my moms AL. I needed a bunch of paperwork but did get it. Only for AL or nursing home.

I friend of mine has her ex husband in a facility and they only charge $1430 a month. The rent dropped $30 last month for some reason. I told her to keep all the receipts from the facility and to ask questions if something seems fishy. Also check your contract to see if there are any special clauses that they may be charging for. If they are using swaps for testing or any other medical supplies they should be charged to the patients health insurance and not to the patient

Price Gouging. Just another way to get money during a crisis. After it is over, check into this more.

A loved one went into AL two months ago. She didn’t want to mingle so she took all meals in her room. At the end of the month, her bill was $600 more for thirty days of three meals a day in her room. She started going to the dining room for meals.