Seniors frustrated by proposed Castle Hills rate hike

Senior citizens, many of them residents of Castle Hill Retirement Village, addressed the Thousand Oaks Council on Aging last week at city hall to voice their frustration with the recent rent increase at the Castle Hill retirement home.

Mary Leste, Shelley Chilton and Dr. Barry Lefkovitch, the new owners of Castle Hill and principals in SMB King Properties, Inc., weren’t present at the meeting.

Castle Hill residents were upset because the rate hikes, effective Dec. 1, come only weeks after the retirement home’s previous owner raised rents by 12 percent. SMB King purchased the property in September.

According to Castle Hill residents, some seniors may see their rent rates increase by more than 50 percent. Some of the home’s residents said they’ll be forced to move because of the higher costs.

“We moved there because we wanted to,” Castle Hills resident Mary Etherington said. “We’re leaving there because we have to. That is sad.”

The Council on Aging, an advisory board to the Thousand Oaks City Council, will ask the city to help propose legislation that will cap rent increases for senior housing. In addition, the advisory board will continue to follow the Ventura County District Attorney’s investigation into the matter. The council also has asked for the city to work with county officials to pursue further mediation with representatives from SMB King.

A week before the Council on Aging meeting, Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, Thousand Oaks Mayor Claudia Bill-de La Peña and a representative from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland’s office met with Castle Hill’s owners to discuss the rate hikes. All three attended the advisory council’s meeting.

Bill-da La Peña said she walked away from the earlier meeting with a sense that the owners would listen to Castle Hill residents.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure these residents are not displaced,” Bill-da La Peña said to the standingroom-only crowd. City council members Dennis Gillette and Jacqui Irwin also attended the meeting.

“This is about dollars,” Parks said. “But it should be about being human.” Parks added that the rent increases “were a clear abuse.”

A spokesperson for the retirement home said Castle Hill executives are reviewing the rent increases and will speak with residents shortly.

Earlier, Evelyn Snellgrove, Castle Hill’s executive director, had written a letter to the home’s residents and families.

“We’ve had the pleasure to meet a few of you and we’d like to have the opportunity to meet the rest of you,” she wrote. “For all the residents and families we haven’t met, we’d like to talk with you individually regarding any concerns and how we may (be) of further assistance.”

Martin Cobos, a supervisor for small claims and consumer mediations with the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, said the rate increase was a “priority” for the DA’s office. However, he said, it will take time for county officials to acquire all of the necessary paperwork to determine if an investigation will be done.

Cobos said a civil lawsuit has not been filed against Castle Hill at this time.

Sylvia Taylor Stein, executive director for the Ombudsman, a senior citizen advocate organization, asked board members to consider the physical impact moving would have on many of the seniors.

“I can’t imagine the trauma they are going through at this point in their life,” Stein said. “If you don’t step forward, this is going to happen again.”

Lefkovitch, one of the home’s owners, is a physician with Arroyo Oaks Medical Group, the same practice Bill-de le Peña’s husband is in.