Assisted living home owners barred from operating future facilities in Arizona
Arizona’s top prosecutor recently reached a settlement with a Mesa elder care facility she accused of elder abuse and consumer fraud.
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PHOENIX — Arizona’s top prosecutor recently reached a settlement with a Mesa elder care facility she accused of elder abuse and consumer fraud.
She reached her goal of stripping Heritage Village’s owners from control of the home, according to a Thursday announcement from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“Heritage Village was one of the most notorious assisted living facilities in Arizona, and I filed a lawsuit to make sure that the people responsible for the Heritage Village horror stories can never again put Arizona’s elderly at risk of serious injury or death,” Mayes said in a Thursday announcement. “Today’s settlement achieves that goal.”
Not only can the former owners no longer operate in Arizona, but they must also pay $100,000 in civil penalties to the consumer protection revolving fund.
The lawsuit accused multiple violations of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and the Adult Protective Services Act against the facility located near Brown Road and 80th Street.
Mayes also asked the court to put the care facility into receivership in April 2024, which is the first occurrence an attorney general has used that provision since the legislature added it to the Adult Protective Services Act in 1989.
A receiver was appointed in April 2024 after multiple residents at the facility had reportedly experienced violence and sexual assault by other residents and crew members.
The court approved a sale of the facility to new owners last year after the facility faced permanent closure and foreclosure by its mortgage lender.
Heritage Village lawsuit settlement comes after years of controversy
Heritage Village had a troubled history even before Mayes took the owners to court in the 2024 lawsuit. In 2019, the Arizona Republic reported that a resident was accused of killing another inhabitant, while, in 2020, a caregiver was accused of raping an 85-year-old dementia patient.
Concerns escalated in October 2023, when AZCentral published an investigation revealing that the facility had received 148 state citations over three years — more than double those of comparable operations.
Within a week of that report, Gov. Katie Hobbs directed the Arizona Department of Health Services and Adult Protective Services to investigate the facility.
The situation culminated in a lawsuit filed by Mayes’ office on March 15, 2024, which alleged that 150 patients were bedbound and that most had not received proper evaluations from a physician reviewing their service plans.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s David Veenstra contributed to this report.
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Comments
1 Comments
That's not the entire Story. After the Husband and Wife team Who ran the place were fired. They continued to operate the Husbands Hospice. My Mother was held out there for four months against Her Will. With No Legal Authority. The AG is aware of that. Days before the Serving of Judge Gordon's Order. They Simply followed Mom Home and put Mom in their Hospice Care Company. The former Director of Medical Care. and Defendant. Dr. Nassar signed off on a Terminal Diagnosis with No Testing of Mom at all! Three times they renewed Hospice before Mom was Medicated to Death. The Fact is Mom died last May in the Care of the AGs Defendants. And they Knew All along and didn't Intervene. Now they Run a Victory lap?