Firm Faces Suit Over Seniors’ Care Plan

A Simi Valley firm that pitched its “home companion care” plan as an alternative to costly nursing home care for senior citizens is facing a civil suit alleging unfair business practices and false advertising, a Ventura County prosecutor said Tuesday.

Retired Home Owners Assn. preyed on senior citizens’ fears of being confined to nursing homes by offering a plan that includes no medical or nursing care, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Fairweather.

The company sold 5,000 of the contracts statewide after it incorporated in March, 1992, Fairweather said. Many were sold to seniors in Ventura County, he said.

Although each contract cost between $6,000 and $9,000, and included fees of up to $600 a year, the group allegedly employed only unskilled laborers who provided little more than housekeeping and companionship, he said.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office filed a complaint Jan. 28 alleging that the association used pressure tactics to sell the contracts to unsuspecting senior citizens.

The group told clients that their money would be held in escrow, but Fairweather said he is investigating whether that was ever done. After the complaint was filed, the company closed its doors and sent a letter to clients stating that it had filed for bankruptcy, he said.

Prosecutors on Thursday will ask a judge to freeze the company’s assets and prohibit them from selling any other home care contracts.

Company President James Michael Cleary of Simi Valley could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Fairweather said he will attempt to retrieve the senior citizens’ money, if there is any left, and give them refunds.

“These are elderly victims that need health care,” he said. “They only have limited money they can spend on it. And if they waste it on a product that can’t even provide them minimal care, and that company has gone belly up, where do they turn?”