A few weeks ago I broke a story about Holiday Retirement being sued by 4 veterans for misleading promises or representations about how veterans’ benefits would make unaffordable senior housing affordable. Here is the link to the article “Here we go again . . . “ Today, the Oregon Department of Justice announced they have reached a settlement with Holiday Retirement that covers all 14 of their Oregon communities. The press release indicates Holiday Retirement will pay $750-$3,500 to 163 veterans plus an additional $200,000 to the Oregon Department of Justice Protection and Education Account; $95,000 toward DOJ’s attorney fees. They also donated $50,000 to the Oregon Veterans’ Home. According to the press release, much of the actual wrong doing was committed by Robert E. Elhard Jr. and Fielding Financial LLC a company that worked directly with Holiday Management to focus on veterans. Part of the settlement included Elhard and Holiday parting ways and Elhard losing his ability to work in the State of Oregon.
Further Reflections
This is always the hard part for me, but there are a few things that need to be talked about:
- It is not clear whether or not this settlement includes the lawsuit that I originally wrote about. I will do some digging to see if I can uncover that information. Maybe someone from Oregon can help here.
- It appears that this is a situation that affirms the old saying that where there is smoke there must be fire. We need to be so so careful about how we do business and who we do business with.
- Transparency, Transparency, Transparency! This would not have happened if there had been aggressive transparency both verbally and on paper about the risks, the amount of effort and the amount of time it can take to get benefits.
- More Transparency, based on the settlement the arrangement with this third party who apparently was responsible for much of the damage that was done, was not disclosed to residents.
- Be careful who you do business with. Doing business with outside experts is a good thing. It makes it possible for us to utilize the skills and talents of experts we could not otherwise afford. That being said, when they are in bed with us, they become us in a very real sense. We need to make sure they have the same level of integrity we hold ourselves to.
I am glad Holiday can put this unfortunate episode behind them (and I hope it includes the lawsuit), but once again the settlement suggests there were widespread problems. Senior living and assisted living are great businesses and the do so much good for seniors. It is a business that is both profitable and efficient and the efficiency comes largely because there are minimal regulations. We cannot afford many more stories like this before both state and federal regulators see an opportunity to come after us with both barrels. Finally, the large companies need to be more careful than other group of providers. They are easy targets and are being looked at with extra scrutiny.
The Attorney General in every single state Holiday has properties in needs to follow Oregon’s lead as their abuse is rampant and needs to be exposed for all 300+ properties in every state. They use different financial groups in other states doing the exact same thing in exploiting this pension and monetizing senior veterans and their families.
Holiday knew exactly what it was doing… Filling beds. From your link to the original article, “Stories like this suggest there are in fact many senior living buildings that are struggling to keep beds full and that in fact, they are taking on residents who have higher care needs and lower financial resources than they would if their local markets were stronger.” — THAT is reality. Emeritus screwed up. Holiday screwed up. They both deserved to be sued… Hopefully it will discourage the other providers from being so greedy, over building, bad planning, over paid executives and wasteful spending… Then passing all that down to the seniors they claim to care so much about.
From LinkedIn Groups:
The vast majority of our prospects in need of assisted living have the service record (as either a Veteran or surviving spouse of a Veteran) to qualify for the Aid & Attendance benefit. For many the funds available through this program can make the difference in those prospects being able to afford to move-in or not. With the highly competitive nature of our industry, there is a great deal of pressure to overcome objections and find creative solutions to close sales. In an effort to maximize occupancy, it can seem an ideal solution when someone offers to help families through the qualification and application process for “free”. Unfortunately, most of these helpful companies are motivated to either sell Veterans financial products such as high commission annuities or talk them into taking out a line of credit.
At Senior LIving Smart, we partner exclusively with Elder Resource Benefits Consulting (ERBC) http://www.elderbenefitsconsulting.com since they never sell or refer to those who sell financial products or services, advise Veterans to move assets or take out loans. They provide unbiased advice and their average time to award is only 4 months.
By Deborah Howard
Follow the money. Nothing is free. Federal laws says that no one can charge for assistance with preparing and presenting VA disability claims. Federal law also says that only a VA Accredited individual (key word) can provide such assistance more than one time. Yet few communities (not just Holiday) actually verify credentials with the VA General Counsel’s Office (www.accreditlist.com).
ERBC gets paid by advertisers whom they admit they don’t “check out”. It does appear that they make referrals to fee-based advisers, which is the preference of most senior advocates. And they refer advisers who are VA Accredited, which should be a no-brainer.
In it’s study concluded July, 2012, the GAO identified over 200 “veteran-friendly” organizations that are supported by financial product marketers and referral services. They provide “free help” with claims while screening out those that have money for referral to life insurance agents (annuities) and attorneys (trust documents).
Adding to the problem, VA does a poor job of enforcing it’s regulations. That seems to be ripe for change with Congress on their back to enforce and beef-up accreditation requirements.
ERBC is the only group doing this the right and legal way, and I have the highest respect for the fact they took the high road and did not fall in line with most “Veteran Advocates” using this pension as a calling card.
As the founder of the #1 nationally ranked website and forums dedicated to this pension, I have heard it all.
I also worked with the Senate Committee on Aging with a year-long investigation on “Pension Poachers”, so I am well versed in how this pension has been manipulated for the sake of filling a bed and getting a commission.