Fort Lauderdale officials issue stop-work order on renovations at assisted living facility

A South Florida assisted living facility has been ordered to halt renovations following a series of Local 10 News investigations.

The city of Fort Lauderdale issued a stop-work order at Oasis Living Quarters, accusing the facility of illegally converting the building into luxury apartments after evicting elderly residents — without any written notice.

Leer en español

During a recent visit, Local 10’s Andrew Perez witnessed workers concealing torn-out drywall and remodeling units — all while residents were still in the process of moving out.

City officials sent an inspector from the building and construction enforcement team A code case citing the following violations is now open on the following, according to city officials:

• New A/C units were installed in multiple rooms.
• Kitchenettes were demolished.
• Hallway/corridor partitions were removed / demolished.
• The leasing agent on site was informed that permits are required for the work mentioned above. Additionally, a permit will be necessary for the change of use from an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) to an apartment building.

Oasis Living Quarters also faces citations from the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration.

A jarring 30-page report revealed what happened when an inspector arrived on the heels of several complaints against the facility regarding its seniors.

Oasis is accused of abruptly evicting senior residents without proper notice while secretly converting its complex into luxury apartments.

The move is similar to a nationwide trend attorneys have been tracking coming from the Northeast.

The newly released unannounced state inspection report reveals the strange interactions between the inspector and the administrator for Oasis Living Quarters, identified on state records at Steven Gottlieb.

Gottlieb denied there were any evictions and blamed deaths and rude nurses for why the resident population dropped significantly since an inspector’s last visit.

The administrator is quoted and repeatedly changes his answers.

The inspector also interviewed various residents still at Oasis, who all said they were huddled for a mandatory meeting on March 5 and told to leave for renovations.

“ You’ll have 30 days to move out,” one resident testified in court for that temporary injunction. “When you move back, there will be no more assisted living, no more memory care, no more food service and no more busses.”

The inspector later catches the administrator admitting that residents would be leaving.

RELATED LINKS

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/03/24/a-growing-real-estate-trend-fort-lauderdale-senior-home-faces-backlash-over-evictions/

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/03/18/families-disgusted-after-seniors-told-to-leave-fort-lauderdale-facility/