Florida Assisted Living Resident Rights — What the Law Says
In this article
Florida law gives every assisted living resident a written list of rights, set out in section 429.28 of the Florida Statutes. It covers privacy, visitors, keeping your own belongings, managing your own money, getting outside, worship, and raising a complaint without being punished for it. Two of those rights carry the most weight when something goes wrong: a resident is owed at least 45 days of written notice before a community may end their residency, and a resident or a family member may file a grievance with no reprisal of any kind.
What the law actually guarantees
The statute opens by saying that living in a community costs a resident none of their civil or legal rights. Everything after that spells out what the community owes them. In plain language, a resident has the right to:
- Live somewhere safe and decent, free from abuse and neglect
- Be treated with respect, with their dignity and their need for privacy recognized
- Keep and use their own clothes and belongings in their own room
- Communicate privately, including unopened mail, telephone access, and visits from anyone they choose
- Take part in community life and be as independent as they are able to be
- Manage their own money, unless they ask the administrator to hold it for safekeeping
- Share a room with their spouse if both live there
- Get regular exercise several times a week and be outdoors often, weather permitting
- Practice their religion, or none, with no service or belief imposed on them
- Get help obtaining health care, including help with medications and with making and getting to appointments
- Receive at least 45 days of written notice before a relocation or the end of their residency
- Raise a grievance or suggest a change without restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal
That last one is the right that makes the others real. A right nobody dares use is not much of a right, so the legislature wrote the protection directly into the statute, and it names access to ombudsman volunteers as part of it.
The 45 days notice, and its exceptions
This is the right families ask us about most, usually in a hurry. A community cannot decide on a Tuesday that a resident is leaving on Friday. It owes at least 45 days of written notice, and the written notice has to state the reasons.
There are three narrow exits from that rule. A physician may certify that the resident needs an emergency move to a place providing a more skilled level of care. The resident may have engaged in a pattern of conduct that is harmful or offensive to other residents. Or the community may go to court and show good cause. Absent one of those, the 45 days stand, and if the resident has a guardian, the guardian gets the notice.
The statute adds one more requirement that is easy to overlook and useful to know. The notice must tell the resident they can contact the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program for help with the move, and it must print that program's statewide toll free number. A termination notice that says nothing about the ombudsman is not following the law.
A notice that a residency is ending is not the same as a decision you have to accept in silence. Call the ombudsman first, before you start packing. The service is free, the call is confidential, and an ombudsman can tell you within a few minutes whether what you were handed follows the statute.
What has to be posted on the wall
Every community's administrator must post a written notice of these rights somewhere prominent, and read or explain it to any resident who cannot read it themselves. That posted notice has to carry the statewide toll free number and email address of the ombudsman program, the number of the local ombudsman council, the elder abuse hotline run by the Department of Children and Families, and, where it applies, Disability Rights Florida.
It also has to say that complaints are kept confidential. The names of residents involved and the identity of whoever complained are protected by statute.
When you tour a community, find that notice. It takes half a minute and it tells you something. Our tour checklist covers the rest of what is worth looking at while you are standing there.
What to do when a right is not honored
Most problems are solved at the lowest level, by saying something to the administrator the same week it happens. Every licensed community is required to have a grievance procedure, and using it first is not a formality, it usually works. When it does not, here is where each kind of problem goes.
| What is happening | Who to contact | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Day to day care, dignity, food, laundry, billing, visiting hours | The administrator, then the Long Term Care Ombudsman at (888) 831-0404 | Investigates on the resident's behalf, free and confidential, and works toward a resolution |
| A residency being ended, or a move you did not agree to | The ombudsman, before the notice period runs out | Reviews whether the notice followed the statute and helps with relocation |
| Suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation | The Florida Abuse Hotline at (800) 962-2873, and 911 if anyone is in danger | Takes the report 24 hours a day and refers it for investigation |
| A pattern you think breaks licensing rules | The Agency for Health Care Administration, and check the community on FloridaHealthFinder | Inspects, cites, and publishes the findings on the public record |
You do not have to be the resident to make any of these calls. A daughter, a friend, or a staff member may file a complaint on a resident's behalf.
See it for yourself
Read the residency agreement with the statute beside you
The bill of rights is the floor. What sits on top of it is the residency agreement you sign, and that document is where the specifics live: what the monthly fee covers, what costs extra, how a rate change is communicated, how a deposit is refunded, and what happens if care needs grow past what the community's license allows.
Nothing in an agreement can take away a statutory right. But an agreement can be vague about the things the statute does not address, and vague is where disputes start. Ask for a copy to take home and read before anyone signs. A community that will not let you do that has answered a different question than the one you asked.
If a community turns out not to be the right fit later, that is a solvable problem too, and we have written about how a move between communities works.
How this fits with licensing
Rights and licensing are two halves of the same system. The license controls what a community is allowed to take on, and the bill of rights controls how it treats the people who live there. AHCA enforces both, and the inspection record for either is public. We walk through the licensing side, including how to pull up any Citrus County community's inspection history, in what AHCA licensing means for families.
Both of our communities, Sugarmill Manor in Homosassa and The Gardens in Crystal River, are family owned and licensed by the state, and we offer assisted living and memory care at each. You can compare every licensed community in the county, ours included, in our Citrus County assisted living guide, or read more about who we are.
Frequently asked questions
What rights do assisted living residents have in Florida?
Section 429.28 of the Florida Statutes guarantees a safe living environment free from abuse and neglect, respect and privacy, use of personal belongings, private communication and visitors, control of their own money, sharing a room with a spouse, regular exercise and time outdoors, religious freedom, help getting health care, at least 45 days of notice before a residency ends, and the right to raise a grievance without reprisal.
Can an assisted living facility in Florida evict a resident?
Only with at least 45 days of written notice stating the reasons, and the notice must tell the resident how to reach the Long Term Care Ombudsman. The exceptions are narrow: a physician certifying an emergency move to a more skilled level of care, a pattern of conduct harmful or offensive to other residents, or the community showing good cause in court.
What are visiting hours in a Florida assisted living facility?
A resident may receive visitors of their choice at any time between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. at a minimum. On request, the community must make provisions to extend those hours for caregivers and out of town guests.
Who do I call if an assisted living facility is not respecting a resident's rights?
Start with the administrator, then call the Florida Long Term Care Ombudsman at (888) 831-0404. The service is free and confidential and you do not have to be the resident to file. If you suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation, call the Florida Abuse Hotline at (800) 962-2873, and 911 if anyone is in immediate danger.
Can a resident get in trouble for complaining about an assisted living facility?
No. Florida law gives residents the right to present grievances and recommend changes without restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal. Complaints to the ombudsman are confidential, and the names of the residents involved and of whoever complained are protected by statute.
Sources
Written by
Community Relations Director
Cameron Hernando Clark is the Community Relations Director for The Manors of Citrus. He writes this family guide to help Citrus County families make sense of assisted living and memory care, drawing on the day to day of running two family owned communities on Florida's Nature Coast.
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