Independent · Informational · On the family's side
Senior care contracts are written for facilities. We explain them for families.
Before your parent moves into assisted living or a skilled nursing facility, you'll be asked to sign a contract that can run 30 pages or more. FacilityTruth produces a plain-English informational report describing what's in the contract — so you can have informed conversations with the facility and, when needed, with an attorney.
The problem
What families often don't know when they sign
Most families review the contract under emotional stress, with limited time, and without a reference for what's standard. The contract is drafted by attorneys representing the facility. Common provisions worth understanding include:
Rate increase provisions
Many contracts allow facilities to raise monthly rates with as little as 30 days notice and no contractual cap on amount or frequency. Whether your contract limits this is worth knowing before you sign.
Level of care assessments
Care tier assignments — which determine how much you pay — are often made by facility staff. Whether your contract provides an independent review process is worth knowing.
Arbitration provisions
Many senior care contracts include arbitration clauses that direct disputes to private arbitration rather than court. The presence, scope, and any opt-out window of these clauses are worth understanding before signing.
Ancillary fees
Medication management, supplies, and additional services are often billed separately with markup percentages that vary widely between facilities. Knowing what your contract specifies helps you ask informed questions.
Discharge provisions
Contracts vary substantially in the notice period, grounds, and procedures for involuntary discharge. Understanding what your specific contract says is worth doing before you sign.
Hospitalization payment terms
If your parent is hospitalized, some contracts require continued full payment, while others provide a reduced bed-hold rate. Knowing which applies to your contract helps you plan financially.
What FacilityTruth provides
Two informational reports. Delivered in minutes.
You upload the contract, enter the facility name, and we produce a plain-English informational report. We describe what the contract says — section by section — and provide context on industry norms and government inspection records. The report is designed to help you have informed conversations, not to replace legal counsel.
Contract description
Each significant clause is described in plain English with a citation to the article and section so you can find it in your contract. We describe what the language says and provide context on what's typical in the industry — without telling you what action to take.
Facility track record
Federal Medicare data, state inspection citations, and staffing information from publicly available government databases — summarized in plain English with the source dates and links so you can verify everything yourself.
Questions to ask
For each significant clause, we provide questions you may want to ask the facility before signing — and questions you may want to ask an attorney. These are conversation starters, not legal recommendations.
Sample report
See exactly what you'll receive
Your report arrives as a PDF within 30 minutes of purchase — covering each significant clause in your contract, the facility's publicly available inspection record, and questions to bring to conversations with the facility and, where appropriate, an attorney.
Maplewood Senior Living — Springfield, IL
Contract dated March 2026 · Sample only · Names fictitious
Financial terms
Monthly rate adjustment provision
Article IV, Section B
In plain English
This contract permits the facility to change the monthly fee at any time, in any amount, with 30 days written notice. There is no contractual cap on the size or frequency of changes.
Industry context
Rate adjustment clauses vary widely. Some facilities cap annual increases at a fixed percentage or tie them to a published inflation index. Whether your contract includes a cap, and how it's structured, is something to look for.
Questions to consider
For the facility: Has this provision changed in recent renewals? What has been the typical annual increase over the last three years? For an attorney: How does Illinois law treat rate adjustment clauses in residency agreements?
Founder
"Over the years I've helped families understand complex documents — uncovering details that are easy to overlook and gaining clarity on what they're committing to before moving forward. When someone close to me faced placing a parent in assisted living, I read the contract they were being asked to sign that afternoon. The document was complex, the timeline was compressed, and there was no neutral resource available to help families understand what they were signing. FacilityTruth was built to be that resource."
— David Thomas, Founder
Important — please read
FacilityTruth provides informational reports describing publicly available data and the contract language you provide. FacilityTruth is not a law firm. Our reports do not constitute legal advice, do not create an attorney-client relationship, and are not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney.
For any legal questions about your contract, your rights under your state's laws, or any specific course of action, we recommend consulting a qualified elder law attorney before signing. The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys maintains a directory at naela.org.
Simple pricing
One report. One price.
FacilityTruth Report
per report · one-time payment
- Plain-English description of each significant contract clause
- Citations to article and section numbers in your contract
- Federal Medicare facility data (where available)
- State inspection citations (where available)
- Industry context for each significant clause
- Questions to bring to the facility and, where appropriate, an attorney
- PDF report delivered within 30 minutes
Secure payment via Stripe · No subscription · No account required
Service availability
Skilled nursing facility (SNF) reports: Available nationwide. Each report includes contract description plus federal Medicare/CMS facility data.
Assisted living facility (ALF) reports: Available in 10 states at launch — California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Additional states will be added on a rolling basis.
Not in a covered state? See our FAQ for what we recommend.