Georgia's New Senior Living Referral Law: What Families Should Know

Georgia recently passed a law — Senate Bill 439 — that regulates senior living placement agencies. The short version: when an advisor like me sends your family toward a community, you have a right to know exactly how that works. This page explains, in plain English, what the law gives families — from me or from any advisor you talk to.

Why the law exists

Senior living placement is a big, opaque industry. The dominant model has been a national network: a family fills out a form, a call-center matches them to communities, and the family hears back from a community within minutes. The family often doesn't know that the network is paid by the communities, that their contact information may be shared widely, or that the "list" of options is shaped by which communities pay to be in the network.

That model isn't illegal. But it isn't fully transparent either, and that lack of transparency is what the new law targets.

What the law requires advisors to do

The law requires senior living placement agencies operating in Georgia to disclose certain things to families when a referral happens. The intent is straightforward: the family should be able to make an informed choice about the advisor itself — not just the communities the advisor recommends.

In plain language, an agency working under the new law should tell you:

• What the agency actually does — that it helps connect families with senior-living communities and what kind of guidance it provides.
• The relationship to the community — including whether the agency is independent, part of a network, or affiliated with specific communities.
• How the agency is paid — most commonly, that the community pays the agency a fee if the family moves in, and that the family doesn't pay anything.
• That the list isn't exhaustive — the agency is showing you a curated set of options, not every community in the area.
• That you can walk away — you can stop working with the agency at any time, for any reason.
• Acknowledgment — the family signs a short acknowledgment confirming they received these disclosures.

The law also touches on advisors verifying community licensing (so families aren't placed in an unlicensed setting) and limits on referral fees from very old leads.

What this means for you

The law doesn't change what a good placement advisor was already doing. The four things above — paid by the community, not the family; honest about the list; honest about walking away — those have always been the hallmarks of a trustworthy advisor.

What changes is that families now have a right to expect those disclosures from any advisor they talk to in Georgia. If an advisor won't answer a direct question about how they're paid, or whether they recommend every community or only ones in their network, that's now a red flag and a legal issue.

How I work — and how I'd answer the law's questions

This page is informational, not a legal summary. But for your reference, here's how I'd answer the disclosures the law calls for, in plain English:

• What I do. I help North Atlanta families find the right memory care or Alzheimer's community for their loved one. Just memory care. That's the whole job.
• My relationship to communities. I'm independent. I'm not owned by, employed by, or contracted exclusively to any community. I tour communities personally and choose which ones I'd recommend based on what I see, not based on who pays me most.
• How I'm paid. A community pays me a fee only if your family chooses to move in. You never pay me anything.
• My list. It's a curated list — the handful of communities I've personally walked and would trust for your family. It's not every memory care community in Atlanta, and I'll tell you which ones I left off and why.
• Walking away. You can stop working with me anytime, for any reason. No contract, no follow-up pressure.

If you want the full transparency page (with the comparison to typical national referral services), it's here.

What to ask any advisor you consider

The law gives you the right to ask these questions. Use them — with me, with anyone:

1. How are you paid, exactly? A trustworthy advisor will answer this directly, in plain English, without making it complicated.
2. Is your list every community in the area, or a curated set? Either is fine — but the advisor should tell you which one.
3. Have you personally walked the communities you'd recommend? Local knowledge is the whole point of working with an advisor instead of doing the search yourself.
4. What do you tell the community about my family? You should know exactly what's being shared, and have a chance to approve it.
5. What happens if I want to stop? Should be: "You stop. There's nothing to sign, nothing to pay."

A direct, comfortable answer to all five is what a good advisor sounds like. Evasion, vague answers, or "let me get back to you" on these questions is the signal to keep looking.

The bottom line

Georgia's new law makes the transparency that should always have been standard into the legal floor. That's good for families. It's good for me — because the advisors who built their model on the lack of transparency now have to disclose what they were doing all along, and families get to compare honestly.

If you'd like to talk through your situation, or if you want to ask me any of the five questions above before deciding to work with me, reach out. I'd rather answer a hard question now than have you wonder later.