HARRISBURG – Attorney General Tom Corbett announced that the Attorney General’s Health Care Section has reached a $33,525 consumer protection agreement with a Lancaster County assisted living facility accused of failing to properly refund security deposits paid by residents.
Corbett said the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) was reached with Hearthstone Manor of Mount Joy, which operates independent and assisted living facilities in Mount Joy, Lancaster County, and Lebanon. The AVC also includes The Bricker Group Inc., the parent company for Hearthstone Manor, along with company owners Jeff and Sandra Bricker, of Lititz.
According to the consumer protection agreement, residents at Hearthstone Manor were required to prepay a security deposit of $1,500 which was intended to be used to offset the cost of cleaning, sanitizing repairing or refurnishing residential units when they were vacated. The resident agreements allowed for a minimum charge of $250, with additional funds to be withheld based on the amount of wear on the apartment or need for repairs.
Corbett said that on occasion Hearthstone Manor allegedly withheld more than the minimum amount from security deposits without providing residents with a written explanation of the additional charges and without maintaining records that would support these extra fees.
Additionally, Hearthstone Manor allegedly failed to refund some security deposits within the required 30-day period after residents vacated the facility.
According to the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, Hearthstone Manor does not admit any wrongdoing but has agreed to pay $21,500 in restitution to a total of 26 consumers who have already filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Health Care Section, along with $12,025 to offset the cost of the investigation and various fees.
Corbett said the agreement also requires Hearthstone Manor to pay restitution for any additional valid consumer complaints that are received by the Health Care Section before December 8th, 2009.
In addition, the AVC requires all security deposits to be held in a secure escrow account and that Hearthstone Manor will provide consumers with a good faith estimate and accounting for all costs related to cleaning, sanitizing, refurbishing or repairing vacated residential units.
Consumers can file complaints by calling the Attorney General’s Health Care Hotline at 1-877-888-4877 or by filing an online complaint at www.attorneygeneral.gov (Click on the “Complaints” button on the front page of the website and select “Health Care Complaints”).
The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance was filed in Commonwealth Court by Deputy Attorneys General Timothy E. Gates and Nicole VanOrder, along with Chief Deputy Attorney General Thomas M. Devlin of the Attorney General’s Health Care Section.