{"id":12468,"date":"2017-03-04T17:17:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T21:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/?p=12468"},"modified":"2020-04-13T16:40:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T20:40:25","slug":"community-care-retirement-communities-ccrc-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/community-care-retirement-communities-ccrc-legislation\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Care Retirement Communities-CCRC-Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Robert J. Shanahan, Jr., Esq.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community Care Retirement Communities<\/h3>\n

Continuing Care Retirement Communities, or CCRC\u2019s, have become very popular in New Jersey and elsewhere.<\/h4>\n
\"Refund<\/a>

CCRC Entrance Fees<\/p><\/div>\n

CCRC’s offer seniors a place to live with services that will automatically adjust as care needs change over time. A new resident is required to pay an entrance fee of several hundred thousand dollars, which is held by the CCRC. Much of the fee is refundable to the resident\u2019s estate, if unused, but the entry contract usually states that the resident\u2019s unit must be sold prior to the refund. This is where the battle begins. I have experienced situations, and read stories, where refunds are delayed for years, waiting for the unit to be sold. This creates all kinds of issues for an Executor, and, at times it seems CCRC\u2019s do nothing to sell the unit. See \u00a0NJ.Com article https:\/\/www.nj.com\/business\/index.ssf\/2017\/02\/bamboozled_holding_hostage_a_dead_seniors_money_-.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Legislation is Pending In the New Jersey Legislature<\/h3>\n

To address the issue of CCRC\u2019s releasing entrance fee refunds within a reasonable time, New Jersey Senators, Kip Bateman and Diane Allen, and Co-Sponsor, Anthony Bucco have introduced a bill, S182, which is before the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. The bill would require CCRC\u2019s to return the money within one year. Senator Joseph Vitale has promised a hearing sometime in March 2017.<\/p>\n

In the State Assembly, Assembly Resolution A4588 has been introduced by Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz. It, too, would require refunds to be made before the expiration of one year. This Bill is before the Assembly\u2019s Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.<\/p>\n

CCRC\u2019s Need to Respond To This Issue Quickly<\/h3>\n

CCRC\u2019s are a valuable option for seniors who are seeking stability in their lives, and comfort in the knowledge that they will be cared for as they age. Given the population\u2019s demographics, there should be no reason why these units cannot be resold in a reasonable amount of time. To hold a family hostage for two, three, even four years is not acceptable, particularly if it is holding up the closing of an estate, or results in the payment of higher estate taxes. I would prefer that there be no need for legislation, but, frankly, this industry has brought it upon itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Robert J. Shanahan, Jr., Esq. Community Care Retirement Communities Continuing Care Retirement Communities, or CCRC\u2019s, have become very popular in New Jersey and elsewhere. CCRC’s offer seniors a place to live with services that will automatically adjust as care needs change over time. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3007],"tags":[413,412,415,416,414,417],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}