TRAVERSE CITY -- Fears of eviction prompted tears and uneasiness for some local elderly assisted-living home residents, as well as for their friends, family and caretakers.
French Manor Inn on Seventh Street was foreclosed this week after Irwin Union Bank rejected the business' restructuring plan under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Owner Trish Gilroy hopes an interested buyer will purchase the facility and prevent it from closing.
"I'm worried about how they're going to adjust to transition," Gilroy said of the 19 residents. "These people are fragile; there are a lot of women here in their 90s."
Norm Droste, Irwin Union Bank's lawyer, notified residents this week that the facility would be closed.
Gilroy filed for bankruptcy two years ago. Droste served eviction notices last June, but they were dismissed because the company was protected under bankruptcy terms. The business is no longer in bankruptcy, but its debt is approaching $2 million, 13th Circuit Judge Philip E. Rodgers said.
A potential purchaser is interested in operating the assisted-living home, Gilroy said. She wouldn't disclose the potential buyer's name, but said she hopes the deal occurs so residents aren't forced out.
Droste said he was "not aware of any qualified buyers."
"There's not an eviction notice," he said. "Judge Rodgers ordered Patricia Gilroy to discontinue operating the adult assisted-living facility and he ordered her to stop collecting rents from people and move them peacefully to new facilities."
Gilroy's attorney, Ann Stringer-Velez, said she plans to file suit against Irwin Union Bank and Droste for serving the notices. She called the action underhanded and unnecessary because of a possible sale.
Carol Harrigan is concerned for a friend who has dementia and lives at French Manor. She's also angry with the bank.
"They see that property as prime property near Munson," Harrigan said. "They're not thinking about the residents, the welfare. They're thinking about the greed."
French Manor employee Ashley Baker fears some residents won't live much longer if forced to move.
On Wednesday, one resident who has no nearby family was crying and feeling helpless, Baker said.
"They're upset," she said. "This is their home."
Gilroy recently agreed to a voluntary foreclosure of a continued care home across the street that housed four residents. She closed the place last month and helped residents find a new place to live.
