If you are considering moving into a retirement home pending admission to a LTCH, you should find out: whether you are required to purchase any care services; how often the landlord has given notice of increases in the past year; the amount of past increases; the date of the last increase; and the date of the next expected increase.
If you are told that the maximum you will be charged for rent and care services is equivalent to the hospital ALC rate, make sure this is set out in writing. If you would be eligible for a rate reduction for the hospital ALC rate, make sure that you also get that rate reduction while staying in a retirement home.
Termination of the Tenancy Notice Requirements
Requirements The RTA specifies that tenants in a retirement home are only required to give 30 days notice to the retirement home landlord if he or she wants to move out. If you get notice that there is a bed available in one of your chosen LTCHs, you will still be required to give this 30 days notice. You are obligated to pay rent to the retirement home for the entire 30 day notice period unless the landlord either: (a) rents out your space in the retirement home to another tenant; or (b) agrees that you will not have to pay for the full notice period. You must also give notice that you want your care services and meals discontinued. However, you only need to give 10 days notice to discontinue these services. You do not have to pay for them after the 10 day period, even if they were included in the basic package of services you purchased from the home. Therefore, it is important that you find out whether the landlord will waive the termination notice period requirements for both the tenancy and services prior to going into a retirement home.
Conclusion
This article highlights a few of the legal issues of which you should be aware if you are considering moving from a hospital into a retirement home to await admission to a LTCH. It is general legal information only and not legal advice. Legal advice pertaining to your situation may only be given if you talk to a lawyer and provide him or her with the details of any proposed arrangement. If you are thinking of agreeing to such an arrangement, make sure that you understand your rights, your legal relationship with the retirement home and who is paying the bills for rent, care services and meals. Make sure you have a written agreement. Be a good consumer and know your rights before entering into any such arrangement!
Brochures on the rights of tenants living in care homes and tenancy law are available from Community Legal Education Ontario at www.cleo.on.ca, as well as the ACE website.
Article courtesy of ACE. This article was originally published in the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly’s summer 2009 newsletter. To view a copy of that newsletter, Click here or click here to visit the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly’s (ACE) website
