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CB Business and Industrial Review of Emeritus at Chestnut Hill
Emeritus at Chestnut Hill

Emeritus at Chestnut Hill review: Not following contract 2

M
Author of the review
4:45 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

In 2007, my mother was declared incompetent by the court due to her having dementia. She was in a nursing home temporarily until I worked to get her into an assisted living home and I decided upon Emeritus at Chestnut Hill(originally it was just Chestnut Hill before Emeritus bought it). I filed for the guardianship but since I could not get bonded, I was named her guardian of person and we got her a separate guardian attorney for her financial matters. The guardian attorney sold her house and took care of her bills for Emeritus at Chestnut Hill and I was never billed for anything and only made sure she was taken care of. In the meantime, Chestnut Hill was bought out by another company(Emeritus) and they asked me to sign a resident agreement because they stated that the attorney had been ignoring it and she needed to have it signed or they would have to evict her. Unfortunately, I signed as her responsible party without knowing what I was doing. When I signed it, the rent was being paid and up to date by the attorney to my knowledge. Well, she had to be moved back to the dementia unit and I was never notified that the rent would be double the original agreed amount and I was under the impression that everything was being paid. The agreement that I signed stated that her rent would be $1752 per month and if there was an increase then I would be notified in writing within 30 days but that never happened. I was never notified and the guardianship attorney continued to pay the original amount that was covered by her social security but the rest went unpaid so it began accumulating without my knowledge or notification as required by the contract from Emeritus at Chestnut Hill. Then in July 2010 they sent me a notice that my mother was being evicted because a balance of $9800 has accumulated on the account. This was the first time I was even aware that there was a balance and the bill was not getting paid. I immediately called the guardianship attorney and he told me not to worry, they probably would not evict her and they were taking the money just to keep the bed filled. Well, they did evict her and she was out of money so I had to find her a nursing home and she had to go on Medicaid. Unfortunately, not long after that, she passed away in September of 2010. So, at the end of September, I get a notice from a collection agency that I owe Emeritus over $11000 for the unpaid bill even though I was never billed or notified of any rate change or of any unpaid balance until it had accumulated to $9800. If I had known the full amount of the bill had not been paid even in the first month, I would have immediately put my mother on medicaid and moved her to a nursing home. Emeritus seems to think it was the guardianship attorney's responsibility even though the attorney was not a party of the contract. I sent them a dispute letter and never heard back from anyone. I just checked my credit report and they have filed an adverse report for over $11000 for this debt. The Emeritus website acts like they care about your loved ones but really they really only care about who pays the bill. As soon as they know your loved one is out of money and the account has an outstanding balance, they will send you immediately to collections. All this for caring about my mothers well-being.

Company Business Name: Emeritus at Chestnut Hill

Country of complaint: United States

Address: 5055 Thompson Road, Gahanna, Ohio

Phone: 614-855-3700

Update by Msteele
May 05, 2011 9:47 pm EDT

Well, thank you for ruining my credit and sending my account to collections during the same month of my mother's death. Also, thank you for breaching the contract by not notifying me within 30 days in writing of the dramatic increase in my mother's rent as it states in the contract. Thank you for violating the Ohio nursing home bill of rights I signed while acting as an agent for my dementia suffering mother. I really appreciate companies like you that are so ethical and do not follow their contracts and give their accounts to shady collection agencies. If you would have not breached the contract and would have notified me as it states you are required to do in the contract, then I would have removed my mother from your facility so she could move to a nursing home where medicaid was accepted and the balance would not have been charged up to $11000. You did not follow the contract and let the balance go up to $11000 before even letting me know that the bill was not being paid. That is blatantly unethical and illegal under your contract and the Ohio nursing home bill of rights.

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EmeritusSeniorLiving
Seattle, US
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May 05, 2011 8:36 pm EDT

We truly regret that you had an unpleasant experience with one of our communities. We, too, are also disappointed that our relationship has reached such an uncomfortable and difficult point for both of us.

At Emeritus, we make every effort to work with families and attorneys to avoid the collection or eviction process.

In the case of an eviction due to discontinued payment, we traditionally work with local resources to find a community that the resident can move into immediately. In addition, Emeritus staff assists the resident and his family during the transition. We understand how difficult this situation can be, and do everything possible to ensure the resident can transition smoothly to a residence that will provide the care and safety they require.

While it is unfortunate whenever it does not work out for a resident to live with us, our Emeritus commitment is that every senior is “safely somewhere, ” regardless of whether that residence is an Emeritus community or another senior living property. Emeritus strives to provide the support to find an environment that respects their dignity and promotes independence.

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NoToEmeritus
Hilton Head Island, US
Send a message
Oct 23, 2012 8:18 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

So much for "Our Family is Commited to Yours" - a very appealing logo with little to no truth behind it (my opinion, of course). There are, for now, very few avenues to post a complaint about an Emeritus facility. I tried posting mine on their Emeritus Senior Living Facebook page and it was off in minutes! I posted it again and it was off in seconds - now I am blocked. It seems as though they pay full time damage control monitors because I tried on a different day and time to post the same complaint from my husband's Facebook page and the same thing happened. Some kind of Gag Rule, I suppose?
Thankfully, ComplaintsBoard gives us a voice and HOPEFULLY, people will be attentive enough to read before signing a loved one into an Emeritus Senior Living facility.
If you're interested, read some about our terrible experienced at Emeritus at Hawthorne Inn at Hilton Head here on ComplaintsBoard.com. Pease contact me as well!