AG threatens legal action over $900 'COVID-19 fee' charged by Brighton senior facility operators

LANSING – Under pressure from state officials, a Livingston County company that operates senior living facilities in Brighton, Grand Ledge and other Michigan communities is backing away from a plan to charge residents a "supplemental COVID-19 fee."

The Michigan Attorney General's Office this week threatened to take action against CSIG Holding Co. LLC and its facility management company, Senior Village Management LLC, saying the fee is legally unjustifiable and might violate consumer protection laws.

The group operates facilities in Brighton, Grand Ledge, Plymouth, Oxford, White Lake, Rockford, Chesterfield, Saline, Midland and Petoskey, the AG's office said.

The AG's office said it sent cease-and-desist letters to 11 senior facilities operated by CSIG or Senior Living Portage LLC, which is part of the CSIG Holding family but has a different registered agent with an East Lansing address.

"We are not going to be charging the COVID fees at our communities," Irina Olgart, of Senior Village Management LLC, said on Thursday evening. 

Any residents who paid the fee will receive a credit for that amount, she said.

The operators were given 10 days to respond or face a formal investigation, the AG's office said. They could avoid formal action by signing an agreement, canceling the fee and refunding it to anyone who paid it, officials said.

“This pandemic has caused financial strain for many people and businesses in Michigan, but that does not provide companies with the right to impose unauthorized costs on their customers and clients – especially those in our senior communities and others who are already living on a fixed income,” Nessel said in a news release.

Nessel said 37 complaints were filed on behalf of residents at Independence Village of Brighton, and one complaint was filed by a resident at StoryPoint Portage, saying they had been charged a $900 "supplemental COVID-19 fee."

A company official told the AG the one-time fee was being charged to partially offset cost increases involving the COVID-19 response, Nessel said. The official said residents who complained about the fee were told they did not have to pay it.

The AG's office said it does not know how many residents paid the fee. Olgart, the Senior Village Management spokeswoman, said she did not have that information.

Nessel said the fee violates lease agreements might also constitute an unfair practice under the state Consumer Protection Act.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.