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TAYLORSVILLE — Family members of some residents at a senior living facility said Wednesday they couldn't believe the letter they received. It stated they would be charged a $300 processing fee for manual payments starting Nov. 1.
According to the letter circulated to residents of Legacy House of Taylorsville, the processing fee is being implemented because the parent company is moving to automatic payments as the primary payment method for all monthly service fees.
"Moving to automatic payments is a win-win for everyone," the letter stated. "Automatic payments not only offer convenience for you, they also help our Legacy team save time and the related operational costs to process manual payments."
While automatic payments under the new rules do not incur the processing fee, the letter states in underlined text that manual payments do.
"As of November 1, all manual monthly service fee payments will automatically incur a $300 processing fee to account for the added time and costs incurred by the Legacy team to process such payments," the letter stated. "Please note that this charge will be monthly should you choose to continue to pay monthly by check. This fee will be waived for all automatic payment options."
Caretaker Nathaniel Gardner, representing one of the residents and her family, said nobody could believe it when they saw the $300 processing fee.
I'm thinking they're out of their minds. That's a lot of money for just wanting to write a check.
–Nathaniel Gardner, caretaker
"I'm thinking they're out of their minds," Gardner told KSL TV. "That's a lot of money for just wanting to write a check."
Gardner said he feared the policy was intentionally focused on an age group that tends to prefer writing checks.
"That's how most of their residents prefer to pay, is by check so they can keep a log of it and everything," Gardner said. "They're not as computer savvy. I think it is targeting them."
Automatic payments not only offer convenience for you, they also help our Legacy team save time and the related operational costs to process manual payments.
–Legacy House
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the parent company stood by the change as officials noted workers would be assisting residents in selecting the automatic payment option so nobody incurs late or processing fees.
"At Legacy Senior Living, our mission is steadfastly focused on supporting the residents and families we serve," the statement read. "Impacted by the same inflationary environment all businesses in the area and across the nation have experienced, we continue to identify ways to streamline manual processes that make life easier for residents while improving operational efficiencies. In that effort, we are moving to automatic as the preferred primary method of payment for reoccurring monthly fees. Automatic payments not only offer convenience for residents and alleviate the worry of potential late fees if a payment is forgotten, they also help Legacy prevent the additional staffing and operational costs in a manual process. Because choice is a hallmark of Legacy, residents who prefer the manual payment method may do so and will incur a processing fee to cover the additional staff time and operational costs required for manual processing. Many residents have already selected automatic payments and will notice no change. Over the next several weeks, the Legacy team will assist all residents as each determines the best fit for their situation."
Gardner said from his experience, residents have been otherwise very happy at Legacy House of Taylorsville and he hoped the company would reconsider the change.
"I understand a $5 or maybe $10 fee, but that's kind of an insane amount of money for that," Gardner said.
Company officials further clarified that the change is going into effect eventually for all Legacy communities.
