California RCFE Fees and Refunds: Is the Move-In Fee Refundable?

A California assisted living or board-and-care home must refund part of a large move-in fee if your parent leaves within the first three months, and all of it in a few narrower cases. Both are licensed as a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), and the rules for California RCFE fees and refunds are written into state law, not left to the facility's goodwill.1,2 Under California Health and Safety Code section 1569.651, an RCFE owes at least 80, 60 or 40 percent of the fee amount above $500 when a resident leaves in the first, second or third month, and the whole fee when your parent decides not to move in before the facility finishes its preadmission appraisal.3 California law also sets how much warning you get before a rate increase and what happens to prepaid money when a resident dies.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• How California RCFE Fees and Refunds Work
• What a Move-In Fee Can Be
• Leaving in the First Three Months: What Comes Back
• If the Facility Closes, Is Sold or Changes Use
• When a Resident Dies
• Rate Increases: 90 Days' Written Notice
• What a California RCFE Can Never Charge
• If Your Parent Receives SSI/SSP
• How to Get a California RCFE Fee Refund
• Frequently Asked Questions

How California RCFE Fees and Refunds Work

If you're holding a receipt for a community fee that ran into the thousands, a letter announcing a rate increase, or a final bill that arrived while you're still grieving, it's natural to feel you have no leverage. You have more than you think: a handful of sections of California's Health and Safety Code spell out, in numbers, what a facility has to give back.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) licenses and monitors RCFEs through its Community Care Licensing Division.1 In the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, a survey of providers rather than a government rate, California's median cost for an assisted living community was $7,000 a month, so the dollars these rules cover are rarely small.6

One carve-out before you go further. California's fee, refund, rate-increase and closure sections (Health and Safety Code sections 1569.651, 1569.655 and 1569.682) don't apply to an RCFE that holds a certificate of authority to offer continuing care contracts (a continuing care retirement community), and California's death-of-resident rule in section 1569.652 excludes fees charged by a continuing care equity project.3,4,7,5 If that's your parent's situation, start with the continuing care contract itself, and ask CDSS if you're unsure which kind of facility you're dealing with.

What a Move-In Fee Can Be

Facilities give this charge many names. Under California Health and Safety Code section 1569.651, an RCFE "preadmission fee" means an application fee, processing fee, admission fee, entrance fee, community fee, or other fee, however designated, that the facility requests or accepts before admission.3 So whatever your paperwork calls it, a move-in fee paid before your parent arrived falls under the same rules.

Section 1569.651 limits that fee in three ways:

• One fee per admission: a California RCFE may charge only a single preadmission fee each time a resident is admitted.
• A written statement first: an RCFE that charges the fee must give you a written general statement describing all the costs tied to it and stating that the fee is refundable, along with the conditions for the refund.
• Everything in the admission agreement: every fee a California RCFE charges, before or after admission, has to be clearly specified in the admission agreement.3

That written statement matters more than it looks. If a California RCFE never gave full written disclosure of the fee and its refund conditions, it must refund 100 percent of the fee.3 Dig out the move-in packet and look for it.

Leaving in the First Three Months: What Comes Back

Sometimes a move just doesn't work. Mom is miserable after six weeks, or Dad's needs change faster than anyone expected. It can feel like you're admitting a mistake. You're not, and California law plans for exactly this.

A California RCFE must return the entire preadmission fee in two situations: your parent decides not to enter before the facility completes its preadmission appraisal, or the facility failed to give full written disclosure of the fee charges and refund conditions. In any other early move-out, section 1569.651 requires a California RCFE to refund only the part of the fee above $500, on a sliding schedule.3

The percentages in this table are the minimums section 1569.651 sets, and a California RCFE may refund more.3

The preadmission fee schedule doesn't cover the monthly rate. Before you set a move-out date, read the termination and refund terms in the admission agreement, where California requires every fee an RCFE charges to be clearly specified.3

If the Facility Closes, Is Sold or Changes Use

This is the situation families fear most, and California gives it its own, more generous refund schedule. California's closure schedule applies when an RCFE evicts a resident under Health and Safety Code section 1569.682(a), the procedure for moving residents out because the facility's license is forfeited or its use changes.3 Under California law, an RCFE license is forfeited when the licensee sells or otherwise transfers the facility or its property, surrenders the license, or abandons the facility.7

In a section 1569.682(a) eviction, a California RCFE must refund the preadmission fee amount above $500 on the schedule below, based on how long before the eviction notice the fee was paid, and must pay the refund within 15 days of issuing the notice.3

California's closure schedule reaches back two years, far past the three-month window for an ordinary move-out.3 If your parent is being asked to leave for another reason, the move-out schedule above is the one to check, and our guide to assisted living in California covers what to look for in the admission agreement.3

When a Resident Dies

Losing a parent is hard enough without a facility bill arriving in the same week. California law is clearer here than many families expect, and under Health and Safety Code section 1569.652 it is on your side:

• No advance notice: a California RCFE can't require advance notice to end the admission agreement when a resident dies.
• Fees stop when the room is cleared: after a resident's death, no California RCFE fees accrue once all of the resident's personal property has been removed from the unit.
• No one can block the move-out: after a resident's death, a California RCFE may not impede removal of the belongings during reasonable hours by the people named in the admission agreement or its attachment, or by a court-appointed executor or administrator of the estate.
• Prepaid money comes back in 15 days: a California RCFE must refund fees paid in advance for the time after a deceased resident's belongings are removed within 15 days of removal.
• A written policy within 3 days: if a California RCFE charges fees while the belongings are still in the unit, it must give the responsible person written notice of its policies on contract termination at death and refunds within three days of learning of the death.5

In practice, the speed of clearing the room sets the end of the bill. If you need a few days before you can face packing up, that's completely understandable; just know that fees can keep accruing until the last of the belongings is out.

Rate Increases: 90 Days' Written Notice

A rate-increase letter can feel like a door closing, especially when your parent has settled in and moving isn't realistic. Under Health and Safety Code section 1569.655, a California RCFE that raises its rates must give residents or their representatives at least 90 days' prior written notice stating the amount of the increase and the reason or reasons for it, including a description of the additional costs.4

SB 1406 lengthened California's RCFE rate-increase notice period from 60 days to 90 days, effective January 1, 2025.4 If a letter you received skips the amount, the reasons, or the 90 days, write back and ask the facility to reissue it properly.

Two more rules shape how an increase can arrive:

• No lump-sum assessments: a California RCFE can't charge nonrecurring lump-sum assessments for unavoidable and unexpected costs; every increase has to go into the monthly rate, amortized over 12 months, with the same 90-day notice. The lump-sum ban doesn't cover charges for specific goods or services provided to an individual resident.4
• Level-of-care increases work differently: California's 90-day rule doesn't apply when the rate rises because your parent's level of care changed. For a level-of-care increase, Health and Safety Code section 1569.657 instead requires a California RCFE to give written notice within two business days after it first provides services at the new level, with a detailed explanation of the added services and an itemized list of the charges. Section 1569.657 doesn't apply to residents receiving SSI/SSP, whose rate increases must meet the separate requirements California law sets for SSI/SSP rate increases.4

What a California RCFE Can Never Charge

Can an assisted living facility in California charge a deposit? That depends on what the deposit is for and who's paying. Under section 1569.651, two charges are barred whatever the admission agreement says:

• A California RCFE may not require, request or accept any money from a resident or their representative as a deposit against possible damage by the resident.
• A California RCFE may not require any form of preadmission fee or deposit from an applicant who receives SSI/SSP.3

One-time lump-sum assessments are off the table too, under the rate-increase rules above.4

If Your Parent Receives SSI/SSP

California adds the State Supplementary Payment (SSP) to federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for a person living in a licensed non-medical out-of-home care facility, which includes a licensed board-and-care home. For 2026, California's SSI/SSP payment standard for one person in a licensed board-and-care home is $1,626.07 a month: $994.00 in SSI and $632.07 in SSP.2

California's Community Care Licensing Division breaks the 2026 SSI/SSP payment standard for one person in a licensed board-and-care home into $706.07 a month for room and board and up to $738.00 a month for care and supervision, a total of $1,444.07 a month payable to the facility for basic services, and the resident must be left a personal and incidental needs allowance of at least $182.00 a month.2 In 2026, at least $182.00 a month of a California RCFE resident's SSI/SSP payment is set aside for the resident's own personal needs. It isn't much, and it's the part of the check that has to stay with your parent, so a bill that cuts into it is worth questioning. In 2026, a California RCFE resident who has income on top of the SSI/SSP check can be charged the $1,444.07 monthly basic-services amount plus an additional $20 a month, but only if the resident agrees to it in the admission agreement.2

California's SSI/SSP board-and-care figures are payment standards, not guaranteed amounts: the Social Security Administration subtracts countable income when it figures a person's actual SSI/SSP payment.2 Our guide to how SSI state supplements help pay for board and care explains the program in more depth.

How to Get a California RCFE Fee Refund

Asking for money back can feel confrontational, especially when your parent still lives there or you're dealing with a facility in the middle of a loss. A calm, written request that names the law usually does more than a heated phone call.

You may worry that speaking up will make things harder for your parent. California law bars an RCFE and its staff from retaliating in any way, including eviction or a threat of eviction, against a resident because the resident or anyone else, you included, filed a complaint or request for inspection with CDSS or a complaint with the local or state long-term care ombudsman.11

Learn More

Find personalized help sorting out a California assisted living fee, refund or rate increase at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.