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My mother moved into AL in June of 2023. She was there 10 days before going to the hospital and not returning until August for 3 days. She then went back to the hospital and did not return to AL. All of her billing was to be automatic pay. As of September, they hadn't charged her anything. I took over her bills at that time and have a paper trail of incorrect billing and over billing for room and care services. As of November of 2023, I was told they were waiting on corporate to get back to them and they would be in touch. I have heard nothing from them until today when I received a collections notice for the full amount. I have plenty of paper trail and will respond to the collections notice as a dispute of the amount. My mother has since passed away and her assets are in probate. According to the contract signed with the AL, "holding" her room was to be requested in writing. That was never done. I told them she was going into the hospital and they said they would hold the room for her. She spent a total of 14 days in AL out of 5 months. I will pay the total room fee if it comes down to it. But, I do want the room amount to be what was contracted for and the care costs removed as they do not charge that when a resident is in the hospital. This AL was unable to get their act together through numerous conversations and emails and now I have this collection notice to deal with. Has anyone dealt with matter before and how did you handle it and the outcome? She was in PA.

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This is exceptionally confusing in the telling.
If you had an ALF room being held, with possessions in it, and with personal furniture and personal items, then that room would be charged.
Why there seems to have been no bill nor any automatic payment I cannot say.
Why you got a collection notice WITHOUT GETTING A BILL I cannot say.
This is something you are likely going to have to comb out with the administration personally.
Wish you good luck, but guessing anything here would be purely a guess.
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equipix Apr 13, 2024
Thanks for the reply. There were bills, but they were incorrect. I have email trails back and forth with accounting and management. It was left with them having to get back to me. No bills were received after that, not even a final bill. I honestly thought they had the billings so messed up that even they couldn't figure it out. I will be chatting with the estate atty about it this week. It's just extremely frustrating because I tried to solve this issue while my mother was alive. Incompetence irritates the heck out of me.
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Brookdale was notorious for fouling up EVERY single bill for my parents in AL. Which was one reason of 20 I moved them out of there.

Good luck.
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I’m surmising that this scenario here would be the same as if you are renting an apartment or a house and even though you are not there physically but as long as you have your personal possessions in the premises you are still responsible for paying the rent. The only how you’d be off the hook for not paying the rent is if you have given notice to the landlord that you are vacating the property.

You definitely should hire an attorney to sort out this problem.
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My Moms AL billed daily. So if it was a month with 31days she paid more, if Feb she paid less. Her rent and care were shown separately. She was in the hospital then rehab for a total of 22 days. Her contract read that her room would be held and for 14 days she would be charged full price. After that, she would only be charged for her room and board. The care charge would be dropped.

So, if I calculated correctly if ur billed like my Mom, ur Mom would be paying in full up to the 24th of June then the care charge would drop until she returned in August. Meaning July she would only be paying Room and board and up to the time she returned in August. Then she would start all over again with paying for her room and care. For my Mom it was a 30day notice that had to be given. So ur Mom maybe responsible for 30days after you gave notice. Unless she passed.

The people calling you are probably from a Collection agency and cannot help you straighten this out. I was told by one, trying to collect for Mom, they had no statement so could not give me invoice info just a total. I was lucky I had worked in Accts Rec and was able to figure out what happen. It was the Drs fault. I paid what was asked but the clerk posted the billings wrong.

I would do a spread sheet showing the discrepancies and what you think you owe. Send the info certified mail to a person you have talked to at the billing dept of the AL. Tell them you are willing to pay the amt you feel u owe. If they do not agree they need to prove they are right. Tell them if you do not hear from them in 30days, you will assume they agree with ur findings. When u send that check put PAID IN FULL in the memo. If they cash it, they have excepted the payment.
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This may be a situation where the bottom line is 1) what does the contract say and 2) with her absences from the room, what did you have or not have in writing?

any emails to and from the AL could support you. I save every single thing I send back and forth to AL management, just in case. That way, I figure, if its something they "agree to " in email and I have that email time and dated, it could help me

it if was just verbal agreement that they would "hold the room for her", you might lose out. But as with many things, only an attorney can answer this for you. If the amount or money in question is sizable, then it may well be worth consulting an attorney asap. Otherwise you may be stuck paying some or all of these costs, unless you can negotiate it with the AL management.... I would say - discuss with an attorney!
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