Buyer Sought for Home : Evictions of Elderly Fought

Efforts are under way by city officials, private donors and a retirement-home operator to forestall the eviction next month of 103 elderly residents living in a Thousand Oaks retirement home that can no longer pay its bills.

Several adult children of La Serena Retirement Village residents are trying to raise $150,000 by as soon as tonight to keep the complex operating past the planned Aug. 25 closure. That money would keep La Serena open for about six months, enough time to find a buyer to continue operating the facility, said David A. Wismer, who is organizing the private fund-raising effort.

Hopes for Buyer

“If we can keep it open for six months, I believe that we can work out a plan and find a buyer,” said Wismer, president of Wismer Associates, a software company in Canoga Park.

Officials of Pacific Homes, the firm that operates La Serena, issued 30-day eviction notices on Monday to residents, saying that the complex is almost broke. About $14 million is owed to creditors, Pacific Homes officials said.

The Thousand Oaks City Council will meet this morning to discuss whether city funds can be used for the fund-raising effort. City Manager Grant Brimhall said Thursday that the city’s legal staff is researching whether public funds can be lent or given to keep the facility going.

“I’m confident that there is a way,” Brimhall said.

Council members said this week that they are willing to provide city money to La Serena if that action is legal.

Meanwhile, the president of an Alhambra-based retirement home chain said Thursday that his firm is interested in buying the 105-unit complex at Moorpark and Olsen roads.

Cash Must Be Raised

John Steinhaus, president of California Lutheran Homes, said it would take from four to six months to negotiate the purchase of La Serena. Before negotiations are initiated, enough cash must be raised by private or city donors to pay the estimated $25,000 a month it would cost to operate the complex during that period, he said.

California Lutheran Homes would be willing to operate the facility during that time, Steinhaus said.

Security Pacific Bank, which acts as trustee for bondholders to whom La Serena owes the bulk of the money, will not begin foreclosure proceedings for another four to six months, said William Arnebeck, trust division vice president.

During that time, the bank is willing to present to bondholders offers to buy the property, Arnebeck said. “We are in a position to meet very quickly with bondholders, and they would have the option to vote one way or another,” he said.

Steinhaus, whose company owns and operates three Southern California retirement homes, said he is trying to determine how much it will cost for structural and other improvements needed for La Serena to receive state licensing as a skilled nursing facility.

Pacific Homes officials said La Serena fell into financial trouble when the complex’s 6-year-old building did not meet state requirements for such a nursing facility.

Revenue dropped dramatically when the complex could not get a state license because many residents moved to facilities that offered skilled nursing care, said Mort Swales, a Pacific Homes official. Ninety of the complex’s 150 units are occupied.

Swales said Thursday that no La Serena resident will be thrown out at the end of the 30-day deadline. The company has offered to place current La Serena residents at one of its five Southern California-area retirement homes, he said.

Nearly all the La Serena residents paid between $25,000 and $110,000 for an apartment at the complex. Additional monthly rents paid by residents range from $850 to $2,800, depending on the size of an apartment. Apartments range from studios to two-bedroom units.

Many residents fear that they will lose refunds of their move-in fees and not have enough money to find another place to live. Most residents were promised a partial refund of those fees if they moved within five years.