referral agencies; fees

HB4085 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
referral agencies; fees

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 4085

Introduced by

Representative
Keshel

AN
ACT

AMending section 36-446.14, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to assisted living facilities.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 36-446.14, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
36-446.14.

Referral agencies; assisted living facilities and assisted living
homes; disclosure; acknowledgement; fee; notice; requirements; civil penalty;
definitions

A. A referral agency shall disclose, in the form
prescribed by subsection D of this section, to any prospective resident or
representative of a prospective resident at the time or before any referral is
made for care at an assisted living facility or assisted living home all of the
following:

1. The existence of any current business
relationship or any common ownership or control and any other financial,
business, management or familial relationship that exists between the referral
agency and the assisted living facility or assisted living home.

2. That the assisted living facility or assisted
living home pays a fee to the referral agency in connection with the referral.

3. The amount of the fee, if determined, or a good
faith estimate of the fee, if not determined, that the assisted living facility
or assisted living home will pay to the referral agency.� The referral agency
may describe the fee as a dollar amount or as a percentage of the prospective
resident's first month's rent
and care charges
at the
assisted living
facility or
assisted living

home.
� The fee paid by the assisted living facility or assisted
living home to a referral agency may not exceed fifty percent of the
prospective resident's first month's rent.� For a resident who stays for less
than thirty days at an assisted living facility or assisted living home, the
fee paid to a referral agency may not exceed twenty-five percent of the
first month's rent.

B. After the first instance of the referral agency
providing the disclosure required by subsection A of this section, the referral
agency shall request from the prospective resident or representative of a
prospective resident an acknowledgement of receiving the disclosure in the same
manner and form in which the disclosure was delivered.

C. The prospective resident may terminate all
services of the referral agency for the prospective resident at any time,
including the use of the prospective resident's personal information, by
providing a written or electronic termination notice to the referral agency.�
If the prospective resident delivers a termination notice, the referral agency
is not entitled to any fee for the resident's move-in after the date of
the termination notice unless either of the following applies:

1. The assisted living facility or assisted living
home chosen by the resident within twelve months after the date of termination
was specifically identified and referred to the resident after evaluating the
prospective resident's profile and requests before the resident delivered the
notice of termination.

2. The referral agency provides documentation to the
assisted living facility or assisted living home that the resident communicated
with the referral agency for referral services before the resident's admission
to the assisted living facility or assisted living home.

D. The referral agency's written, electronic or oral
disclosure shall be in the following format and, if written, shall be in fourteen-point
font type:

Arizona law requires that we provide you with the following
disclosure notice.

We are in the business of referring residents to assisted
living facilities and assisted living homes. We will be paid by the
assisted living
facility or
assisted living

home if you move into one of the referred
assisted living

facilities or
assisted living
homes.� The fee we receive
from the
assisted living
facility or
assisted
living
home into which you move typically ranges from (____) to (____)
percent of your first month's rent
and care charges
or
from ($____) to ($____).� We
(do/do not)
have a current business
relationship (but/and) we
(do/do not)
have a common ownership or control
in, or any other financial, business, management or familial relationship with,
(any) (one or more) of the
assisted living
homes and
assisted living
facilities to which we are referring you.

By providing us with a written or electronic notice, you have
the right to terminate our services to you at any time, including our use of
your personal information. If you terminate our services, we will
not be entitled to any fee for any move-in you make after the date of the
termination notice unless either:

1. The
assisted living

facility or
assisted living
home you choose within the
next twelve months is one that we specifically identify and refer to you after
we evaluate your profile and requests but before we receive your notice of
termination.

2. You communicate with us before you move into
the
assisted living
facility or
assisted
living
home.

E. Within fourteen days after a resident is admitted
to an assisted living facility or assisted living home, the
assisted
living
facility or
assisted living
home shall
notify the referral agency of the resident's admission if the
assisted
living
facility or
assisted living
home is
contracted with the referral agency. Not later than fourteen days
after receiving notice of the resident's admission, the referral agency shall
provide the assisted living facility or assisted living home with a written or
electronic copy or recording of the disclosure made to the resident and the
resident's acknowledgement of receiving the disclosure as prescribed in
subsections B and D of this section, along with the date and time of the
disclosure to the resident. The assisted living facility or assisted
living home shall maintain a copy of the disclosure for as long as the resident
is at the
assisted living
facility or
assisted
living
home.� The referral agency shall maintain a copy of the
disclosure and acknowledgement for one year.� The assisted living facility or
assisted living home shall not pay any referral fee associated with a resident
until the
assisted living
facility or
assisted
living
home receives the written or electronic copy or recording of the
disclosure made to the resident and the resident's acknowledgement of receiving
the disclosure provided and maintained in the same manner and form.

F. A referral agency that violates this section is
subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation. The
attorney general or a county attorney may institute a proceeding in superior
court to recover the civil penalty under this subsection and to restrain and
enjoin a violation of this section. Any civil penalty recovered
pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the general fund of the
jurisdiction that prosecuted the violation.

G. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Electronically" includes an audio
recording that conforms with the Arizona rules of evidence, that is maintained
by the referral agency and that is transmitted to the assisted living facility
or assisted living home and the resident or the resident's representative in a
format that can be downloaded.

2. "Referral agency":

(a) Means a person or entity that provides referrals
for a fee that is collected from either the resident or the assisted living
facility or assisted living home.

(b) Does not include either:

(i) An assisted living facility or assisted living
home, or its employees.

(ii) A resident, a resident's family member or a
patron of an assisted living facility or assisted living home who refers a
prospective resident to an assisted living facility or assisted living home and
receives a discount or other remuneration from the assisted living facility or
assisted living home.
END_STATUTE