• Home
  • Our Team
  • Practice Areas
    • Estate Planning
    • Elder Law
    • Traffic Matters
    • Criminal Defense
    • Real Estate
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Senior Law Day
  • Forms
Collins & Hepler, PLC
Contact us: (540) 962-6181
     275 W. Main St., Covington VA 24426
     10 S. Randolph St., Lexington VA 24450

How to Spot Illegal Nursing Home Debt Collection Tactics and Stop Them in Their Tracks

4/27/2023

 
Picture
With 48 million families supporting someone in long-term care across the United States,* all too often long-term care becomes the target for illegal activity that leaves the families who were simply trying to care for their loved one at a loss. However, you don’t have to become a victim.
 
TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND YOUR LOVED ONE’S ADMISSIONS CONTRACT 
When securing a long-term care facility for your loved one, you will have to decide whether or not to sign an often lengthy and confusing admission contract. Unfortunately, many caregivers do not understand what they are actually signing, thus providing the perfect opportunity for a facility to add illegal clauses that families unknowingly agree to.
 
For example, some admissions contracts include a clause that states a caregiver must pay the resident’s bill in the event that the resident cannot afford to do so. However, clauses like this are generally illegal. Yet, in the event that you unknowingly agreed to this clause in the admission contract, the nursing home can hire debt collectors, including law firms, to demand that you pay the unpaid bills; sometimes even going as far as personally suing you for the outstanding balance or reporting the debt to consumer credit reporting companies under your name.

HOW TO SPOT THE RISKS IN YOUR LOVED
ONE’S CONTRACT
 
Oftentimes you may not realize your loved one’s contract includes these clauses until the nursing homes attempts to collect from you personally. If you are already experiencing this pressure from a nursing home, it is important to reach out to a knowledgeable elder law attorney who can review the contract you signed and advise you on the best way to proceed.
 
If you haven’t yet signed a contract, it is a prudent idea to have the agreement reviewed by an expert elder law attorney so they can ensure these clauses are not present. At the very least, pay special attention to verbiage such as “responsible party” or “joint and several liability” in the admissions contract. Some contracts also include language about the caregiver’s liability for a completed Medicaid application or make the caregiver jointly liable with the resident for nursing home bills. In any event, make sure you read the contract thoroughly before you sign it.
 
HOW TO HOLD BAD ACTORS RESPONSIBLE  
You can report the nursing home for violating the Nursing Home Reform Act. To do that, you will need to contact your state’s nursing home survey agency and file a complaint with your state attorney.
 
Finally, if you are having a problem with a debt collector, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB online or by calling (855) 411-2372. 
 
*According to AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. Caregiving in the United States 2020. Washington, DC: AARP. May 2020. 

Comments are closed.

    Collins & Hepler, PLC

    A small firm with big abilities

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    October 2024
    May 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    March 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    Conservation Easements
    Criminal Law
    Divorce And Family Law
    Elder Law
    Estate Planning
    Events
    Farm & Land Protection
    Juneteenth
    Legal News
    Real Estate
    Traffic Matters
    Trusts

    RSS Feed

Home

Our Team

Practice Areas

Testimonials

Blog

Contact

Serving clients in Covington, Clifton Forge, Warm Springs, Bath County, Lexington, Buena Vista,  Alleghany County, Bath County,  Rockbridge County Virginia and surrounding areas.
​
Because the results obtained in specific cases depend on a variety of factors unique to each case, past case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in future cases undertaken by a lawyer or law firm.
Copyright © 2016