The enforceability of arbitration agreements between nursing homes and their residents is a fact-driven inquiry and implicates important policy considerations related to public safety that are not found in the typical dispute over an arbitration provision. Beyond these policy concerns, there are often sharp disputes over capacity and meeting of the minds when a nursing home seeks to enforce an arbitration clause against a resident. Still, familiar principles apply to the analysis in these settings, which often lead to a nursing home being unable to enforce such clauses. This article examines some of the basic principles needed to challenge a nursing home’s efforts to enforce an arbitration agreement against a resident.

Basic Contract Principles Apply