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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Justice Dept. Sued Potential UNM Developer

By Martin Salazar
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
    A Tennessee company in discussions with UNM for a contract to build a controversial retirement community on the North Golf Course was sued by the Justice Department in 2004 for allegedly violating the rights of some of its residents in Texas.
    CRSA— also known as Co-Operative Retirement Services of America— and the former owner of a retirement community in San Antonio agreed to pay $620,000 to settle the lawsuit, federal court documents show.
    That includes $25,000 in civil penalties each company was required to pay.
    The federal government and individual plaintiffs accused the companies of evicting residents with disabilities if they were unable to walk without assistance or required too much help, a violation of the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit also alleged the companies conducted illegal health assessments as a condition of tenancy.
    The company denied the allegations.
    The University of New Mexico has been in discussions with a development team made up of CRSA and JP Morgan on a proposal to build a retirement community on part of its North Golf Course. UNM officials said they have not yet entered into a contract for the project.
    It's unclear whether UNM was aware of the San Antonio settlement.
    University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the university's real estate office hired the Rodey law firm to do preliminary due diligence on CRSA and other prospective contractors. The work was completed in August, although the Albuquerque law firm has since been asked to expand its review, she said.
    CRSA continued to deny the allegations when it agreed to the consent order in the San Antonio case.
    "Defendants Pacific Life and CRSA vigorously deny that any resident was evicted because of a disability, or because he or she was incapable of caring for himself or herself," the December 2004 consent order states.
    Chas Roemer, a senior vice president for CRSA, told the Journal he didn't recall specifics about the case.
    "We've done business for 18 years, and we're in over 20 states," Roemer said. "I would venture to guess that we probably have the fewest lawsuits of any company in America with that same type of footprint and scope of services."
    A review of federal court records shows CRSA has both sued and been sued in several states:
   

In May of 1997, two women filed an age discrimination employment lawsuit in federal court in Albuquerque against CRSA and La Vida Llena. CRSA did business with La Vida Llena "many years ago," Roemer said. The lawsuit was dismissed in July 1998 after a settlement was reached.
   

In January 2006, a woman filed a federal lawsuit against CRSA and Tuttle Care Center LLC in Oklahoma alleging she was demoted and then fired for blowing the whistle on illegal activity at the nursing home. The suit was dismissed after an agreement was reached, a court document states.
    "The allegations against CRSA were proven unfounded as validated by a state of Oklahoma review," said Vicki Sherrard, executive vice president of health, wellness and management for CRSA.
   

In July 2006, CRSA filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Azalea Gardens LLC in federal court in Mississippi. The suit was filed about three months after Azalea Gardens, an assisted living facility, terminated its management contract with CRSA for unspecified reasons. CRSA alleged it was owed more than $158,000. The suit was dismissed in September 2006 after a settlement.
    "These issues you bring up, I don't want to dismiss them as irrelevant. But I would say that our positives far, far, far outweigh any of these detractions," Roemer said. "And in most cases, if not every case, I would argue that in fact these lawsuits that you bring up were frivolous."