"Fair Business Practices Act of 1975"; regulation of referral agencies for assisted living communities and personal care homes; provide
SB 439 amends Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act of 1975 to regulate “referral agencies” that connect prospective residents with assisted living communities and personal care homes for a fee paid by the facility. The bill defines key terms such as assisted living community, personal care home, resident, authorized representative, personal services, and referral agency, and it excludes facilities themselves, their employees, and residents or their representatives from the referral-agency definition when they make referrals.
The bill requires referral agencies to make conspicuous disclosures at or before the time of referral. Those disclosures must explain the agency’s services, any relationship between the agency and the facility, the fact that the agency is paid by the facility, that the agency’s list may not include all available options, and that the prospective resident may terminate the agency’s services and use of personal information at any time. The agency must also obtain and retain an acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure, and it may not charge a facility unless that acknowledgment is provided and the referral remains timely under the bill’s 24-month rule.
SB 439 also limits when a referral fee may be collected, including a requirement to resubmit a referral after 12 months if the facility confirms the resident has not yet moved in, and it bars fees if more than 24 months have passed between referral and move-in. Enforcement is assigned exclusively to the Attorney General under the Fair Business Practices Act, and the bill expressly eliminates any private right of action.
The bill’s impact is to create a new consumer-protection framework for senior housing placement services in Georgia, increasing transparency around referral relationships and compensation while giving prospective residents and their representatives more control over their information and choices. It affects referral agencies, assisted living communities, personal care homes, and the Attorney General’s enforcement authority, but does not create private litigation rights.
The available voting history suggests broad bipartisan support and little overt opposition: the Senate passed the bill 50-0 and the House passed it 166-0. With no committee transcript provided, there is no recorded debate in the materials, but the unanimous votes indicate general agreement with the bill’s disclosure and anti-conflict-of-interest provisions.
SB 439 adds a new Code section to Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act, regulating referral agencies that market or place prospective residents into assisted living communities and personal care homes. It imposes disclosure, acknowledgment, record-retention, fee-eligibility, and referral-timing requirements, and it limits enforcement to the Attorney General rather than private lawsuits. The bill therefore expands state consumer-protection oversight in the senior housing referral market and directly affects referral agencies, facilities, prospective residents, and their authorized representatives.
The bill appears to have been received very favorably. It passed the Senate 50-0 and the House 166-0, indicating unanimous support in both chambers. No committee discussion was provided, but the voting record suggests the measure was viewed as a straightforward transparency and consumer-protection bill with little or no opposition.
No significant contention is evident in the provided materials. The main policy issues embedded in the bill are whether referral agencies should have to disclose relationships and compensation, whether residents should be able to terminate use of their information, and whether enforcement should be limited to the Attorney General rather than private plaintiffs. The unanimous votes suggest these provisions were not controversial among legislators.