DCF closes investigation of assisted living facility owner who evicted elderly patients

The Florida Department of Children and Families will take no further action against the Bradenton woman who in March evicted with little notice patients from her Bradenton assisted living facility, despite finding “credible evidence” of abuse and/or neglect by her.

According to Natalie Harrell, DCF communications director for the SunCoast Region, the investigation of Nancy Cushman is closed with a “Not Substantiated” finding. DCF has three categories of findings. The definition of the finding reads, “When there is credible evidence, which does not meet the standard of being a preponderance, to support that the specific harm was the result of abuse or neglect.”

The details of the investigation are statutorily protected, but DCF actions conclude when the investigation is over. A DCF spokeswoman said in individual cases, investigation details are turned over to law enforcement if there is criminal intent to neglect or abuse. In institutional cases like Rudy’s Agape House, the details of the investigation will be turned over to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, which licenses Cushman.

In early March, Cushman gave 15 elderly patients, many with dementia, just 36 hours to get out of her Rudy’s Agape House, a rented facility at 5426 18th St. W., leaving families in a stressful wake of confusion as they scrambled to find alternate options.

DCF opened an adult protection investigation three days after the forced eviction of the residents. By the end of March, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration initiated a $12,500 fine for Cushman’s actions. She is currently litigating that decision through the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings and the case is ongoing.

Shortly after forcing her residents to leave, Cushman opened Rudy’s Agape House II, at 2104 55th Ave. W. Cushman had been planning the move for some time without the residents’ knowledge. She applied for a new license for the new facility in June 2016.

Cushman maintains her previous landlord, Sandra Campbell, initiated the eviction without notice, which led to the 36-hour notice to the residents.

But court documents show Cushman stopped paying, or only made partial rent payments, on the facility as early as November of 2016.

According to emails from Campbell’s attorneys, Cushman was made aware as early as January that her month-to-month lease was being terminated for nonpayment and she was directed to begin the process of vacating the premise at that time. An eviction notice summons was served to Cushman on Feb. 16, but she didn’t tell the residents until March 7 when the court order was issued.

Cushman, who has declined to comment, requested the court to give her until the end of March, “to give families time and for those without families, me time to move them,”she wrote in a handwritten letter to the court. Cushman told the families that everyone was being evicted, but the order clearly states it “does not apply to the individual residents who reside at that location.”

After the eviction occurred on March 10, the court agreed to temporarily remove the eviction order, but she was already out of the facility. Cushman used that court order to justify her situation in a Facebook post on March 16. She wrote, “The judge’s ruling came out today and overturned the improper and unjust eviction of Rudy’s Agape House, LLC that led to 15 people having to leave their home. Too late.”

However, according to the judge’s order, removing the writ of possession order was not uncommon in order to clear the way for a likely lawsuit. In the one brief conversation Cushman had with the Bradenton Herald, she said the court order stopped an eviction lawsuit, but court records show Campbell is currently suing Cushman for rent owed, as well as damage to the facility up to and including removing an infestation of bedbugs.

She sent a letter to AHCA on March 13, voluntarily surrendering her old license. She said she was “unwilling to take a chance with the residents’ safety as my license would leave with me if evicted. I had begun contacting families on March 8 about what was happening and they all agreed it would be best to move them as soon as possible.”

Several family members told the Herald they were only informed by other residents’ family members and they did not agree leaving the facility was best. Rather, based on what Cushman had told them, they didn’t have another choice.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 12:44 PM with the headline "DCF closes investigation of assisted living facility owner who evicted elderly patients."