I had a friend who is a contractor come to look at the house today and what he told me was shocking. For those who aren't following this, my mom is on Medicaid Waiver. Medicaid outsources to a company called ATP (Assistive Technology Partnerships) to make modifications to the house paid for by Medicaid, to make the house more 'accessible'. After the ATP rep looked at the house they drew a blueprint which involves taking out part of a load bearing wall, expanding the bathroom into a closet, building a new wall, replacing the current tub with a walk-in shower, changing the toilet and sink around, tearing up the flooring down to the floor joists, putting down new flooring, new wall covering, the door then needs to be moved 5 feet to the East and a wide door needs to be installed. There is a tight corner to get into the bathroom so they need to take out part of a North-South load bearing wall to make an opening between the living room and kitchen then the door goes on the East-West wall.
My contractor friend said he could never work for ATP because ATP has a pool of contractors who will do the job for what ATP pays. He said for a big major job like this to do it correctly, he would have to bid it around $15,000 which is way over what ATP pays. He even said some contractors will bid on the job and accept the job just from looking at the blueprint without ever seeing the house, these are usually the contractors who get the job. He said lots of people scream and holler after these so called budget contractors finish with their house, then they hire him to come fix it. Some of this wall will be visible while sitting in the living room, so you want it to look nice and blend in. All ATP is concerned with is that the bathroom be functional, they don't care if it looks like crap.
He said really all we need is a new modern bathtub that's easier to step into, but Medicaid Waiver won't pay for it unless the entire bathroom is wheelchair accessible. He called ATP for me to help me explain why modifying the bathroom at this time is a bad idea. We will have to get my mom out of the house for a week or more while the work is being completed then when my mom sees what they did to her house, she is going to be furious.
The ATP rep wants to know if I'm my mom's primary caregiver with POA and I'm supposed to be watching my mom 24/7, where I was at when my mom signed the papers. They explained this is a major project and they've spent lots of time looking for contractors and securing funding. Neither ATP nor the selected contractor get paid unless the project is satisfactorily completed.
My mom is going to claim with her dementia, she didn't fully understand what they wanted to do to the house. ATP claims that I should have carefully reviewed the blueprints and explained them to my mom before she signed the papers. There's no way anyone who doesn't do this work everyday could have understood how far East the door needed moved or what the local code said. I look at these prints and I'm still confused. My mom thought she would get a new bathtub, toilet and sink, she wasn't planning on a massive renovation.
So can ATP hold me responsible since I have POA and I should have been watching my mom?
If you were there then Yes, you should have reviewed the contract and had someone else review the blueprints before signing.
You need a lawyer to stop this.
There is nobody else willing or able to take my place, my mom would only get a few hours per week from the home care agency. Medicaid will only pay for up to 35 hours if I'm not living here and she's at 31 hours right now. That's not enough as it is, but the home agency is never able to cover all 31 hours. What good will the bathroom renovation do if my mom can't get out of her chair to get to the bathroom anyhow? $4,000 for a porch lift plus they have to build her a new front porch and she'll still need someone to help her use it.
We have suggested on different posts that you require an elder law attorney. As POA this can come out of your mother's funds. Please see a Lawyer. THAT is the ONLY person who can help you.
I know she signed it because she thought somebody said she would never have to go to the nursing home. She also thinks the neighbors come over and steal our stuff when we are gone. Yesterday she wanted me to go borrow a cup of cream from my aunt. My aunt died 6 years ago and I don't know what she wanted with the cream, she hasn't tried to cook since I've been here.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/what-kind-of-lawyer-do-i-need-to-put-a-stop-to-renovations-to-my-moms-house-466335.htm
I’d suggest you take photos of the state of disrepair the “modifications” are and of how it looks outside and seems to be affecting the property’s foundation. You send these to your councilman, state rep & state senators this office like on Monday. Another set goes to whatever TV station has an “Action Reporter”. The issue is ATP are supposed to do “modifications”... like they install a higher seat toilet, or lower profile sink, or install & secure heavy duty grab bars, or remove doors and change framing to make doorways slightly wider, grids on flooring ... what it sounds like this firm are actually doing is structural changes which is whole different ball game. For modifications work in theory they do not have to pull full permits on and have city / co built during & safety inspectors come in as work progresses and sign of to let work continue. It’s just “modifications” that Medicaid is paying for.. but if they can find issues so they can do a change order and get a bigger job done, they can hit up Medicaid to pay. It sets up an ideal environment for less than reputable company to take advantage of those vulnerable. Easy to pressure or scam the elderly. And I bet that’s what’s happening.
On Tuesday you email photos to Medicaid and you mention that you have already contacted your elected officials.
ATP isn’t the only company under contracts with State Medicaid on mod work. That the ATP rep tried to turn your concerns about shoddy work onto a guiltify for not being there 24/7 is bad business practice. It’s intimidating. If your on NextDoor, I bet if you post, your gonna find others who have the same problems.
I’d try to force a stop work order till a ADA certified residential architect reviews the initial plans and changes done and does a site inspection. If your friend is a licensed contractor, he can do a listing of his concerns for you to use as well. Your city has some sort of building inspector or safety & permits Dept, they get emailed the photos too.
Im assuming that the work is still at the stage where work can stop without making matters worse. So bathroom still functioning. So it’s not an open to the elements wall.
As an aside on this, a Medicaid paid “modification” program has been in TX for a while. THMS construction in Austin 866-217-2202 does this & are very very good. I think if you are in historic or conservation district, they are only company approved statewide for mod work in those zones as exteriors legally cannot just be changed willynilly. Look at their website, this is what mods are supposed to be abt.
Key point: your mom (&you) were told & assured all changes were limited to “modifications”. It is a modification program to make living at home safer & more accessible based on ADA standards using modifications (not rebuilds or renovations). That is the understanding & what mom signed the contract based upon. What is happening is not mods work as existing load bearing walks & flooring are being removed; it appears to be significant changes to the project. It’s now not what she signed up for. They know it too, that’s why they are trying to guiltify you. A good atty can totally deal with this. Good luck and start getting photos taken!
We figure the total cost of what they want to do could be $30,000, I wouldn't be surprised if they are spending $10,000 or more on rebuilding my mom's front porch and adding a porch lift. After the renovations are complete, the value of the house will have been exceeded.
$10,000 to get my mom up and down 3 steps and she won't be able to operate it herself, I'll have to help her up and down. Might be easier just to help her up and down the steps.
SGeorge doesn't seem to be taking suggestions from those of us who posted in the first post.
I'm beginning to wonder if any of this is legitimate and if we aren't just being played.
If it is true, he/she needs to get going and intervene as has been suggested before the work has started. And he/she also needs to stop speculating, asking irrelevant questions, and find an attorney. This is not something a person with little construction knowledge can handle alone.
My mom's caseworker put the authorization in months ago and so far only one contractor came to look at the house. I don't see how a contractor can just show up and start working with nothing further. I'm not making changes to what they want to do, I don't want the load bearing wall to come out and I don't want to expand the bathroom into the closet - it can stay just how it is.
If I do have to let the contractors in, Medicaid pays for it, so It's Medicaid's money they are wasting.
My son has POA for me and my husband, but he doesn't get to do any decision-making. We're only 60 and perfectly competent, but we had all our paperwork done a couple of years ago including our wills, trust, and POAs.
You and your mom need to decide who's in charge of making legal decisions, as in who is really authorized to sign things on her behalf. You can be the acting POA and consult her opinion all day long, but it seems you should be the one signing contracts and such. If Mom isn't OK with that or you don't have paperwork declaring her incompetent to make decisions, then you're merely a bystander with no responsibility for what she does.