Finding a senior living facility for your loved one isn't easy: can they live independently, need assisted living, or do they need a place offering more 24-hour care?
Then there are the costs involved.
Some facilities offering all of these options ask for a large deposit upfront called an entrance fee, and there's a refund if the resident leaves within a certain time period.
Barbara Taylor has been trying to help her friend Forrest Buck get that refund after leaving a Valley senior living facility.
They are long-time friends.
"Sometimes his texts would be, 'thank you for your thoughtful visit today,'" Barbara says.
She says Forrest loved life and is a decorated war veteran.
"Got the Purple Heart, was awarded the Bronze Star..." she says.
On a visit last year, we shared stories about Forrest.
But Barbara came to me for a different reason.
When Forrest's wife died, he moved to Sierra Winds senior living community in Peoria — and he paid a hefty "entrance fee" to guarantee his place for continuing care there.
If he left before a certain time, Forrest was to get most of that money back.
He did move out in 2018 and told us he expected to get around $102,000. He thought that he'd get something within a year after moving.
That didn't happen.
Weeks turned to months and months to years. Three years later, Forrest still didn't have that refund.
We tried to get answers for Forrest and so did Barbara.
"I called many, many times and couldn't get them to call me back," she says.
Janet Farnsworth says she knows Forrest's story well.
"I thought within a year, I would get a check for my 90% back," Janet says.
In 2021, we interviewed Janet and aired a story about her experience with Sierra Winds. She also paid a big entrance fee.
When her husband died, Janet says she moved and expected a $193,000 refund — and three years later, she still couldn't get it.
She says that was the money she had intended to live on.
"People would ask, 'let's go to lunch' and I'd say, 'oh, I already ate.' But really, I was afraid to spend any money," Janet says.
How can there be such a long refund delay?
It's all legal and in the contract that both Janet and Forrest signed.
It states that refunds will only be paid once the unit has been sold and re-occupied.
"All that does is work in the favor of Sierra Winds," Barbara says.
She says Forrest asked about his refund most every time they were together.
Barbara says it's not that he needed the money to live. She says he just didn't think it was fair.
"He would say, 'Barbara, I just don't think it's right they can use my money and I don't ever know if they're really trying to sell my apartment unit or not,'" she says.
New Jersey is currently looking at a one-year deadline for these senior living refunds. But most states, have no deadline law, including Arizona.
Here, there's just a requirement that contracts include some refund policy.
I took that concern to all 16 state legislators on the House and Senate Health and Human Services Committees.
But so far, there has been no follow-up and no action.
More than three years after Janet moved out, we were able to help her finally get that big refund.
"It came in an envelope, $193,000 which was owed to me," Janet says.
Our Let Joe Know/Better Business Bureau volunteer Grant worked on Janet's case for months.
And Grant tried to help Forrest get his money, but we were unsuccessful.
At the age of 98, nearly four years after moving out, Forrest died.
That refund money intended for his trust has still not been paid.
"I think Forrest would be thrilled that someday, somewhere there would be states that would implement a time limit that retirement homes could keep the money of someone who died and or left," Barbara says.
Forrest's family is still trying to get that refund.
In a statement, Sierra Winds says: "We do not comment on health, family or financial matters of our current or former residents."
But previously, about Janet, they said a refund was made "within the contractual timeframe."
What do you think about a law forcing a refund deadline in these situations?
Go to the Let Joe Know Facebook page and weigh in.
Let your legislators know what you think.
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