retirement home eviction

[melodyzg]

hi... my mother is in a nursing/retirement home in Phoenix, AZ... she is on a fixed income and paying 'share of costs' with the county... they leave her exactly $76 a month for personal expenses, the rest goes to the home for room and board... when i talked to the county at the very beginning, i told them there were bills to be paid and i didn't know what to do... they said there was no problem, so i went ahead and paid the bills that were due... when the red tape cleared and things were settled, i discovered i should have paid the home instead of the bills... so from that time, Feb 2000, to now the bill at the home has been nearly 30 days behind... a couple months ago, they began pushing for the total lump sum which i told them was impossible... i was paying a little extra each month plus her phone bill, which i discovered they were applying to the past due amount and resulted in her phone being removed from her room... so now, they have sent a letter saying she will be discharged from the home on the 28th if the total due is not paid... is this legal? can they evict her for being less than a month behind? do we have any recourse? thank you, melody

 

[dj1]

I think you have learned a very valuable lesson in LIFE SKILLS!

The landlord always gets paid FIRST!

Can you borrow the money? Did your mom leave you any money before she moved in the home? Did you spend it all on yourselves, figuring the county would pay her bills?

I guess its time to get a second job, or a second mortgage, cut back on your lifestyle, start learning how to sell your valuables on http://www.ebay.com and give the home its money.

You have some hard choices to make...good luck!

[Edited by dj1 on 05-15-2001 at 10:49 PM]

 

[Paul Bernstein]

I would suggest you read the contract with the nursing home, that you put all your papers in order and then contact a local lawyer in Phoenix. You may have a goodly number of rights and options that you do not know about.

You did not mention the amount owed....another option might be for you to borrow money from a bank or on a credit card, so that the back rents allegedly due could be paid...interest on a loan or credit card will be one heck of a lot less expensive then having to hire a lawyer to defend against an eviction.

You might also do some searching on the web and/or making other inquiries....perhaps the nursing/retirement home is in financial trouble, or has a checkered past, or has other problems that may be impacting on you and your options.