It's all about money, must make those profits you know.

IN MY OPINION>>>>
If you wait for His Royal High Ass Campbell to deal with it you "will be "paying an extra months rent....
He isn't going to take time off spending his pay raise to worry about, we the people. He didn't even pull himself out of the bottle long enough to check out the CN fire here...

I disagree...I cant imagine what it must be like to run a facility like this - where everyone in it will be "checking out" soon. This must put extreme strain on the staff and management here. There are many people waiting to get in here - what options do the staff have - the facility needs to cover costs - Ben - would you rather it close down due to vacant rooms not being used? Everyone knows there is nothing cheap about dying - does anyone know how much funeral homes make - are they doing this for free? Does anyone know how much estate planning costs - or worse - not having an estate plan and how much taxes the deceased will pay.

I commented earlier this week that this is not a news story - and it is not. It is simply a fact of life...or in this case -death.

The real tragedy in this story is that everyone knows they will die, while they do not know when, they do have their whole lives to plan for it. People need to take resposibility for themselves during their life and also their death. By saying the government, or landlord of the facilty should pay for someones financial obligations is ludicrous.

This story has been the fourth most read story on Opinion250 this week. It will show as that when you receive your mailer next week of the most read stories. It is only topped by the Quesnel CN derailment, Pope and Talbot and the Stand off in Vanderhoof. I felt it was news then I still hold to the belief that we must have some feelings in life.

Ben Meisner

A suggestion:
A team of bonded people unrelated to the deceased that goes in to carefully box up the person's belongings under the supervision of a Commissionaire.
That way you have a supervised, impartial clean up of the deceased' effects.
From there, the boxes go into bonded storage until the estate is settled.
The costs are paid by the estate.
metalman.

Let us look at the business economics of this thing and forget about compassion for a moment.

Typically apartment building which have units to rent operate at a % of vacancies, the same as hotels, etc. In good times they will have few vacancies, in bad times they may have 10% or more vacancies.

In order to operate in the black, the rental rates are set on a break even of some guesstimate of what the vacancy rate will be. Thus, all renters pay for the fact that there are vacant apartments on occasion the same as hotel patrons pay for the fact that there are vacant hotel rooms on virtually every night and the fact that someone may build a new hotel and the vacancy rates may go up for a year or two. A hotel patron who has booked 3 nights can leave earlier without having to pay for the original booked 3 nights. Who pays? Not the hotel owner. All the other patrons of the hotel through proper setting of room rates.

Good businesses who know how to run a business properly without attracting bad PR such as Alward Place has managed to do, know how to manage for those circumstances.

To me, this business has not taken the fact that people “check out” unintentionally into account. In other words, they have not raised the level of the rents in their units to accommodate for a one month vacancy each time someone dies or ends up in an extended care or other facility where more care is required than is available at Alward Place.

We must remember, when looking at this, that other than the “early check-out”, I assume that this place has virtually 100% occupancy. As it says, and as we know, there are waiting lists to get in. This is no ordinary apartment building.

If that is the case, then, in my view, they are running a business in such a way that they do not care about the particular nature of the business they are in and the well being of the people who live there and may die there.

Solution? One option would be to raise the rent for everyone by 2% to cover the average vacancy rate of one unit per 50 units, let’s say. Another would be to ask for a deposit for one month’s rent which is not refundable if notice of moving is not given one month in advance. That increases the rent by about 8% for those who stay one year, and becomes a break even of 2% for those who stay for 4 years.

So, in the end, I agree that this place has some bad business practices which have resulted in some bad PR for them. But, since there are lineups, it will likely not hurt their business. Its just the kind of landlord/tenant atmosphere that is not pleasant for anyone and someone should do something about it since it could be seen to be just another example of that often hidden elder abuse.

This is a how life, and death, goes. If you are living in an apartment or rented house and pass away during the last part of the month (no matter what your age), your stuff is likely not going to be removed before the next month begins and therefore your rent needs to be paid.

I recently helped clean out a woman's apartment that died in a rather expensive private senior's facility on the 26th. We cleaned everything out by the 4th - the rent therefore had to be paid until the end of the month. That is part of the responsibility of the estate and I don't think it is unfair. Compared to the costs to the estate that loom after death, rent for the ensuing month is a small portion of the expense.

Is it news just because people read it? Or do people read it because its news? Lots of people read top ten fiction novels but that is not news...digging up standard procedures in a long term facility in my mind is not news..it is more like creative journalism - at best it may belong in your opinion column but its really not news..anyone can read the landlord tenancy act. It doesnt mean that people have no feelings because death is involved. Death is a part of life and should be planned for. Lets give credit to those running these facilities and not discredit them by following some common sense procedures.

Is it news just because people read it?

What is this hangup with what is nes and what is not?

It is called Opinion 250 after all, not News 250.

And, there are all sorts of reports in a Newspaper. Just because it has the word news in it does not mean they do not have puzzles, editorials, cartoons, lifestyle reports, home decorating tips ... etc. etc.

Besides, it may not be news to someone else, but it is news to me since I did not know that this was happening. So, this is new information. Seems lots of other people either knew, or did not care.

Maybe before a report goes on here the peanut gallery ought to take a vote on whether it should go on here and under which section it should go.

BTW, for all the astute observers out there, notice that this second item is under the "views" section.

"news (nūz, nyūz)
pl.n. (used with a sing. verb)

1. Information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television.

2. A presentation of such information, as in a newspaper or on a newscast.

3. New information of any kind."

So .... this is a recent happening when someone complained ... and it is new information to some, I am sure. Nothing says it has to be new information to all.

Thanks for showing you can use a dictionary owl...

You're right owl, this is an opinion and it is on the "views" page, not the "news" page. Im always interested in everyone's opinion wheher it be "news or "opinion" Keep up the good work Ben.

I agree with Owls first comment 100%.

This is news about bad management in allocating for their costs of doing business in the kind of business they operate. Furthermore it is news about elder abuse, and abuse of the grieving for petty profits from someone’s death.

IMO there is no excuse for this kind of callus behaviours on the part of Alward House and anyone that condones this.

I think the residential tenancy branch needs a special order from the premiers office stipulating that proper management of revenue allocations for death situations needs to be taken into account for elder care homes. The burden should not be on the surviving family members.

just stating my OPINION...just because it doesnt agree with Ben doesnt mean its not as valid as anyone elses...the beauty of freedom of speach

chadermando:

Furthermore it is news about elder abuse, and abuse of the grieving for petty profits from someone’s death.


Who is being abused?? You dont make any sense whatsoever...how can you abuse someone that has passed on?

Again, well written, Ben. I wonder if this applies to Jubilee Lodge, with four people to a room, where my wife is dying?

To me, Ben and Elaine, a much bigger story to check out and report on is
what honestjoe has to say about his wife having to share a room with four other people in Jubilee Lodge.

SFG, you said: "digging up standard procedures in a long term facility in my mind is not news..it is more like creative journalism "

Then you made some snide remark about my being able to use the dictionary. I only go to dictionaries when someone tries to argue the legitimate used of a word. That is what you were doing, in case you forgot. As I am sure you will agree, dictionaries are the rule of the meaning of words. Unlike many other people on here, I generally go beyond opinion which does not have to be supported by anything other spouting some words. I try, whenever possible, to back up statement to show my rationale for opinions I bring forward.

So, I was merely trying to show that no matter what your opinion may be, it is legitimate to put the report about Alward Place under the category of "news". Your opinion on the matter or my opinion on the matter really does not count.

To an objective individual looking in from the outside, to determine whether this is news or not, they would have to go to the dictionary to see what the word means, then determine whether the information item brought forward would fit under the category of “news”. It may very well fit under many other categories as well - health, opinion, seniors, law, etc., etc.

But it also fits under “news” as defined by an English language dictionary.

• Is it a recent event? – a resident recently reported something to Opinion 250 – that makes it a recent event of relaying information, so it meets that criterion.
• Was it reported by a periodical, newspaper, etc? – no, but this is an electronic version of the same, so it meets that criterion and thus meets the use of the word for category 1.
• Category 2 is essentially similar to the second part of one.
• Category 3 is the wonderful catch all. It is certainly new information to some people, as it was to me. While I am aware of the normal circumstances of notice required for housing renters, hotel room renters, hospital ward patients, extended care unit occupants, etc. and know that they all vary, I was not really certain under which category old age homes would fall since I have not occasion to be involved with that.

Charles, I agree with you about a much larger story.

Jubilee lodge, I would think, would be quite different since it is an extended care facility.

A facility similar to Alward would be the Prince George Chateau.

I would think that facilities like that would have or should have a storage space to house belongings of deceased tenants for short periods of time so that the apartments can be cleaned and released for the use of new tenants.

Notice the agreement on this Seniors’ residence in Saskatchewan, for instance under number 8:

“Thirty days notice is requested to vacate by the resident. This may be adjusted according to reason to vacate.”

Notice the use of the word “requested” as opposed to “required” (for SFG, you may wish to look up the definitions of each) and the opportunity to adjust the 30 days, likely to a shorter period based on circumstance (it appears they may be sensitive to the notion of writing something about dying being a valid reason to adjust – sort of like the opposite of elder abuse, I think this is a good example of elder respect)

http://www.srshomes.com/faq.shtml

Has anyone ever been a landlord? Do you have anything to say in response to Ben's compassionate position? Chester