Hearing on Eric Swansons notice-to-leave held open after facility presses nonpayment claim

A hearing officer convened an administrative hearing Dec. 11 in the matter of Eric Swanson v. Highchase LLC to consider a notice to leave the facility issued for nonpayment. The facility representative said the home had not received applied Social Security payments for about four months and asked the hearing officer to uphold the notice; the officer held the record open and ordered written documentation on charges and invoices to be filed by the close of business for a decision to follow.

The facility representative, who later spelled their name as Kuldip Vogel and identified themself as the owner and administrator at Hyches LLC Wellington (the record also refers to the respondent as Highchase LLC), said Swanson paid when he first arrived but had not made payments for several months. "We just had some difficulty in getting any payments from him," Vogel said. Vogel described the facilitys payment structure as a combination of a DSS payment and residents' applied Social Security income, and urged the officer that unpaid applied income and pharmacy copays had created financial strain on the home.

Swanson denied that nonpayment was a simple refusal to pay and said medical crises and privacy concerns affected his ability to manage funds. "I had the worst year of my life medically," Swanson said, describing prolonged illness that he said compromised his finances. He also disputed factual claims in the facilitys discharge form and alleged staff had circulated private information without his release.

The hearing officer limited testimony to the single issue in the notice to leavenonpayment of chargesand repeatedly instructed parties not to introduce unrelated medical or behavioral allegations. The officer asked the facility for documentary proof of the written agreement that governs monthly charges and for copies of invoices and ordered those documents to be filed with the officers office by the close of business the same day. "Im going to hold the record open in this matter until you file the documents I ordered you to file by the close of business today," the officer said.

The parties disagreed about certain facts: the facility estimated roughly four months of unpaid charges (the representative approximated the amount at about 420) and said previous meetings and repeated promises to pay had not produced funds; Swanson said he had arranged to pay and described an incident involving a relative that he said led to an unfair characterization in the discharge paperwork. The transcript records conflicting spellings and references to the facilitys name (Highchase LLC in the docket line, and Hyches LLC Wellington in the facility representatives identification); the hearing officer did not resolve that naming inconsistency in the session.

The hearing remains open administratively pending the facilitys filing of the payment agreement and invoices by the close of business; the officer said a decision will be issued after reviewing those documents.