A NURSING HOME resident, 96, is facing homelessness after being ordered to pay $110,000 amid a stressful contract dispute.
Jean Jacques has lived in the same unit for 22 years – but was given just three days’ notice.
Jean Jacques, 96, has been threatened with eviction from her home of 22 yearsCredit: KSBW
Jean Jacques lives at Pacific Grove Senior Living in Pacific Grove, CaliforniaCredit: KSBW
Jacques moved into the former California-Nevada Methodist Homes (CNMH) Pacific Grove, California, 22 years ago.
She told NBC/ABC-affiliated KSBW that she had signed a lifetime contract with that nonprofit in 2002.
The agreement was that she could live at CNMH’s Forest Hill Manor nursing home in Pacific Grove for the rest of her life,
Jacques said that she had handed over $250,000 as a down payment and paid $5,000 every month in rent until her savings disappeared.
However, CNMH filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2021, due to a “growing number of financial challenges,” according to bankruptcy court documents, reported Senior Housing News.
It ended up going bankrupt, and its property was sold to Pacific Grove Senior Living two years ago, following approval from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
This for-profit community provides apartments to residents aged over 55, along with independent and assisted living options.
Jacques had assumed it would stick to her original contract with CNMH, and continue with her lifetime option, reported the New York Post.
But Pacifica Senior Living, which is the parent company of Pacific Grove Senior Living, served her with an eviction notice on August 16.
Jacques was told in the letter that she had three days to pay it $110,000 in rent, or face eviction.
“I was shocked; the reason I moved into Forest Hill Manor was to be taken care of for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I’m not going. They’ll have to bury me because I have no place to go. They have all my money.”
Legal experts told Jacques that her previous contract was grandfathered in – where an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations.
But, policies allowing the elderly tenant to continue living in her unit until her death weren’t included.
“She’s devoted all of her savings and money into this place,” the president of Pacific Grove Senior Living’s residents’ association, Bob Sadler, told KSBW.
“I don’t care what the legal ramifications are here. This is morally unthinkable.”
He explained to the broadcaster that the “lifetime care” contract signed by Jacques in 2002 was only unconditional with the previous owners.
But this wasn’t the case with the new owners, Pacific Senior Living.
Adding to the confusion, Alliance for Aging has alleged that the eviction notice wasn’t approved by the Community Care Licensing Division, the California government agency that oversees these facilities.
Plus, the notice did not tell Jacques how she could appeal the eviction, claimed Elizabeth Campos, project manager for not-for-profit agency.
“It’s frustrating. You do get angry knowing that it’s an elderly person – where is this person going to go?” she said.
The agency has joined forces with other supporters to fight on behalf of Jacques, and stop her from being evicted.
They have called on Pacific Senior Living to stick to the original contract.
The Post reported that, since receiving the eviction notice, Jacques has had no further contact from the community’s business office.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Pacific Grove Senior Living for comment.
PROTECTED
In September 2022, Bonta said in a statement announcing the conditional approval of the property’s sale that current residents would be protected.
“The conditions… Bonta approved today ensure access to quality healthcare and will allow current residents to continue receiving care at the facilities while protecting their outstanding entrance fee obligations,” it said.
“With our conditional approval today, we ensured that the residents of these retirement communities continue to receive the best possible care and quality of life,” said Bonta.
“Due to the strong conditions we’ve imposed on the sale of these continuing care retirement communities, the individuals and families living in Oakland and Pacific Grove can remain in the communities they called home and receive uninterrupted health care.”
