Bullying continues, but Susan is fighting back

About three months ago I got an email out of the blue from a resident of a senior housing community. Susan (not her real name) explained that after a long professional career she had been stricken by a life-threatening disease which eventually drained her financial...

Eviction stories stir compassion – and questions

I’m not certain of it but I believe this may be the first book review that has ever appeared in Housing Management Update. That is, of course, if you don’t count the HUD Handbook 4350.3 as a “book” in the conventional sense! Let me start at the end. Evicted: Poverty...

Let’s not forget that seniors are adults, too

In 2014, NCHM set out on a mission to “get back into the senior housing business.” In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, NCHM was at the forefront of senior housing issues. Our two-week long (yes, two-week) Senior Housing Management certification program was way out...

Is the time right for maintenance time standards?

More than 35 years ago I was part of a HUD-funded national demonstration program that tested the use of time standards for maintenance workers in public housing. The program was based on what was then referred to as the “British Model.” In those days the...

Is ‘independent living’ illegal?

The term “independent living” is widely used in the senior housing industry. Some properties even incorporate the phrase in their names. Many use it freely in advertising. I’ve used it for years and continue to do so (although with some trepidation...