The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has "released an Issue Spotlight highlighting some of the difficulties and experiences heard from caregivers about being pursued over friends’ or family members’ alleged debts from nursing home facilities. Based on the findings in the report, the CFPB and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have issued a joint letter confirming that a nursing care facility may not require that a third-party caregiver personally guarantee payment of a nursing home resident’s bills as a condition of the resident’s admission to the facility. Such conditions violate the Nursing Home Reform Act and, as discussed in a new Consumer Financial Protection Circular issued [yesterday], subsequent attempts to collect debts from caregivers may violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act."
The CFPB's press release is here.
