Fox Hill Senior Condominium Faces Foreclosure In Affluent D.C. Suburb

This time, the foreclosure crisis is hitting a bunch of retirees all at once.

Fox Hill Senior Condominium, which, according to its website, offers "cosmopolitan living for ages 60+" in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, is being threatened with foreclosure, the Washington Post reports. The retirement community was opened at the height of the housing boom in 2008, but with 240 units still unsold, a group of German banks who provided an estimated $100 million loan have had enough.

"Fox Hill is a one-of-a-kind luxury senior condominium community that has, like many excellent high-end condominium projects, fallen victim to an economic crisis," property manager Sunrise Senior Living said in a statement to WaPo.

Fox Hill, according to its website, boasts among its amenities an indoor pool, spa, "state of the art" workout equipment and "resort style dining."

The closure is just the latest sign of the way the foreclosure crisis' profound effect on the nation's retirees and elderly. Just one year after Fox Hill opened in 2009, a study by the AARP found that Americans age 50 and over accounted for 30 percent of home delinquencies, USA Today reports. But it's not just individual homes owned by the elderly that are at risk; properties like Fox Hill, called continuing-care retirement communities, or CCRCs, may be some of the most susceptible to foreclosure.

When several CCRCs began to fail after the housing market collapsed, the Government Accountability Office issued a a 2009 report, cited by the Los Angeles Times, that found the homes were "particularly vulnerable during economic downturns as stagnant real-estate markets drive down occupancy levels in independent living units, which serve as CCRCs' primary source of profit." Entrance fees for CCRCs average $250,000, but can run as high as nearly $1 million.

Even with the steep charge to get into the homes, the residents of retirement and elder-care facilities can face big risks. Often, retirees don't bother to read the fine print before signing on to such communities, leading to financial hardship such as lost deposits and unexpected eviction. In California, for example, board-and-care facilities have no legal obligation to tell residents that the homes may be facing foreclosure, The New York Times reports. As a result, residents can be evicted literally while bedridden.

Comments

[argh38]

05:59 AM on 04/11/2012

No one wants to buy because the building is on top of 495. Even hard of hearing elderly don't want to put up with that noise.

[consumer rights defender]

05:45 PM on 03/05/2012

Call Consumer Rights Defenders for Foreclosure litigation help for those without legal counsel who are in need of some guidance. Attorneys and paralegals standing by at 818.453.3585

[NOHPFOR ME]

08:47 PM on 03/04/2012

There is something wrong with this article. Something is missing or wrongly printed. First of all, a 60+ community does not comply with the “Housing For Older Persons Act of 1995”. If that was the age restriction at 60+ then they are in violation of Age Discrimination. “MyResponsiblity” posted the correct information in that the owners are not being foreclosed but the developer is responsible and served with the foreclosure. Like any today newspaper, the reporters are only giving some of the right answers but mostly a slanted view. GOD! Where are the responsible writers? Who wrote this article, Barney Frank? Get the facts and reprint this sad event.

[DeadPhish]

07:35 PM on 03/04/2012

I'm a Social Worker that works with elderly folks. Medicaid no longer pays for dentures as a result of conservative "spending cuts" enacted over the last few years. I now have three clients that need dentures - and, can't get them. Medicaid will pay to pull your teeth, but will not follow up with dentures. Seriously. One client gets regular infections because her teeth are so bad, and Medicaid STILL would not cover the expense for dentures. My clients are losing weight because they are eating less. This is not my America.

This is the health care that conservatives have designed - PLEASE VOTE 2012.

[nopilikia]

06:14 PM on 03/04/2012

Wonder if any of those German banks are doing business here in America from a Wall Street address? If so...... they might be covered under the bankster recovery act and get taxpayer bailout bucks from congress.

[honkndodge]

07:05 AM on 03/04/2012

These people have money and plenty of it. They will not become homeless by any manner of speaking. I don not feel for them. They are living the lap of luxury right now.

[PaulaP44]

12:14 AM on 03/04/2012

No sympathy, no sympathy at all. They are part of the 99%. Most seniors cannot afford to live like they do.

[carolinacookie4]

11:29 PM on 03/03/2012

I thought maybe it might have been the White House.

[gina4fun136]

10:51 PM on 03/03/2012

Article states housing boom in 2008!! Hahahaa, yeah, ok, the boom was in 2005 into early 2006, then began to tank. By 2008 the truck was already off the cliff, so these investors should have had plenty of warning by 2008.

[nitroreefclub]

02:25 AM on 03/04/2012

they did they did not care cause now they own another piece of america. How do you tell them they can not live here they already own it/us.

[gina4fun136]

02:50 PM on 03/04/2012

That's very true...

[knott wrench]

10:48 PM on 03/03/2012

And side effect of the "Do Nothing" GOP TP Congress.

Impede the Economy and the trickle down flows downhill to this. How many senior citizens will have ended up with Nothing?

How many will be forced out of this facility and at the end of being relocated to another facility will suffer from Mental Anguish and die years earlier than they would if they were to continue where they are at now?

[malcomnator]

01:55 AM on 03/04/2012

Please don't lump all republicans into this as Ron Paul warned about the housing crisis in 2002 & told you inflation would get steadily worse. He also wants to change things as he mentioned Ike's speach in his last debate , if you know what he is referring to he said we spend more on our military yearly than all of our corporations make.

[jbeachboy32]

10:39 PM on 03/03/2012

i wonder who all you huffington post people will be voting for as if that makes a difference

[jbeachboy32]

10:38 PM on 03/03/2012

class warfare? im surprised we havent had a civil war in this country between the haves and the havenots

[rja3463]

10:28 PM on 03/03/2012

its getting betta.....huh mr O

[No7]

09:14 PM on 03/03/2012

.......can't wait till Freddie N Fannie forclose on the white house....

[candalou2]

08:48 PM on 03/03/2012

but wait a minute, some people in Washington say things are looking better now.

election year?

[cilantro518]

08:54 PM on 03/03/2012

Don't you know that in 1932 Herbert Hoover was saying the economy was finally starting to perk up.

[candalou2]

10:19 PM on 03/03/2012

tes that has always been and is, too many lies