Who Wins in Class Action Staffing Litigation
The American Seniors Housing Association and Hanson Bridgett just came out with an “Industry Brief” on the settlement of a class action lawsuit called Heredia v. Sunrise Senior Living. The settlement was approved on December 3, but the lawsuit had been winding its way through the courts since 2017. Apparently, for these kinds of staffing lawsuits this is the longest time period recorded. The basis of the class action lawsuit was allegations of understaffing, with staffing levels unrelated to the care needs of residents, as well as allegations that representations by owners/operators to residents and prospective residents that sufficient staffing was in place were misleading. While we have... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Cap Rates Coming Down?
Cap rate data has been difficult to measure in the last couple of years, due to a fast-changing capital costs environment, a relatively fast-changing operating environment and, frankly, a relative absence of true “cap rate deals” where the buyer was valuing the trailing set of financials, without any funny business. Now, we are seeing more “cap rate deals” and look forward to providing our industry averages, broken out by property type, quality, age and performance in our next Senior Care Acquisition Report. Anecdotally, what we are hearing is that cap rates are compressing slightly, but in the grand scheme of things, are staying relatively high relative to the record (and some may say... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Occupancy Sends Mixed Signals
Perhaps when Brookdale Senior Living can better focus on a smaller number of properties when its lease for 120 communities with Ventas ends at the end of next year, they will be able to push occupancy on the remaining portfolio. The company’s size will shrink by nearly 20% if the full lease termination goes through as disclosed last week, and we have to imagine that the Ventas properties require a lot of management time. Meanwhile, the company reported November’s occupancy, and while there was some good news, census levels still disappointed us at this point in the recovery from the pandemic. Investors, however, differed from our assessment, sending the share price up by 7.5% before ending... Read More »
Brookdale vs. Ventas
They took it to the wire, but Brookdale Senior Living decided not to renew its leases with Ventas covering 120 communities in a Master Lease that expires December 31, 2025. The deadline was November 30, and they let it pass. Ventas will still collect $113.6 million in lease payments next year, and all parties have previously stated that the properties have been covering the lease payments in full. Even though it was an all or nothing renewal option, we were hoping that the two sides would come to an agreement to perhaps split up the portfolio. The problem is that both sides would have wanted to keep the better performing properties. Now, Brookdale no longer has the right to extend the... Read More »
Change Coming To Life Care Centers of America
What is happening at Life Care Centers of America is a great example of how not to establish a succession plan, especially when it involves one of the largest privately owned senior care companies in the country. The company was founded by Forest Preston nearly 75 years ago, and he remains the CEO and sole shareholder of a company that is purported to be worth close to $1.2 billion. But he really has not run it for years. I sat down with Forest about 15 years ago, when he agreed to do a long interview with me about his entire life and career. I could tell something was off, and he had a “minder” constantly by his side. But he was agreeable to do this with me, and seemed to look forward to... Read More »Schedule a demo
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