You can read all the posts on Erickson's bankruptcy by clicking here.

Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan will hear arguments at 9:30 a.m. next Wednesday on Erickson Retirement's plan to increase protections for resident's entrance fees, which the company calls "initial entrance deposits." It basically amounts to a money-back guarantee if you buy an Erickson unit and want to move out later or if the community has financial troubles or goes out of business. Current practice is, you get your money back after the community sells your unit to somebody else.

If I were about to sign for an Erickson unit, I would wait until next week to see if the judge approves the new protections and then ask for the new deal. Below is Erickson's argument. IED is initial entrance deposit. CCRC is continuing care retirement community.

Allowing the residents to have a free look at whether or not the CCRCs are operating effectively while these cases are pending should drastically increase the willingness of potential residents to pay an IED... Equally important to a residents’ peace of mind is the knowledge that should their CCRC close, their IED would be promptly refunded to such resident. Should a Closure Event happen, it is imperative that the residents have access to the IEDs paid upon their residency of the CCRC.

UPDATE: Jon Chesto at the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, reporting on Erickson's Linden Ponds property in Hingham, reports that the new protections would not apply to all Erickson communities.

Mary Helen Lorenz, chairwoman of the Linden Ponds board, said the escrow protections being considered in bankruptcy court would only apply to communities where Erickson landowner subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy along with their parent company. Because the Hingham Campus hasn’t filed for bankruptcy, the deposit refunds at Linden Ponds would continue to be governed by the terms spelled out in the residency contracts.