How to Read a Tennessee Consent Order Before You Tour a Memphis Assisted Living Facility

What a disciplinary action on a Tennessee ACLF record actually is

When you look up a Memphis assisted living facility on the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission's facility listings, the entry ends with a count: “No Disciplinary Actions,” or a number with a link. On the October 2026 roster for Shelby, Fayette and Tipton counties, 22 of the 35 licensed assisted-care living facilities (ACLFs) show at least one action. That ratio surprises families, and it deserves context rather than alarm.

A disciplinary action is a formal order of the commission against the license. It is not the same thing as a routine inspection finding. When surveyors find a problem during an ordinary inspection, the facility gets a statement of deficiencies and must return a plan of correction within ten days (rule 0720-26-.05(2)). Most problems end there, and they never appear in the disciplinary count. An action shows up only when the commission decides a penalty or other sanction is warranted.

The most common form in the Memphis-area records is a consent order: the facility agrees to pay civil monetary penalties (CMPs) without contesting them at a hearing. Some orders add conditions, such as probation, monthly appearances before the commission, proof of staff training, or proof of fire drills for a year.

Which Memphis-area facilities have had recent orders

The table lists ACLFs whose HFC listing shows an action dated 2025 or later, newest first. It is drawn straight from the state's listing; it is not a ranking and does not include routine survey findings.

Across the commission's monthly Facility Action and Abuse Reports since January 2025, we matched 18 entries to Memphis-area ACLF licenses. Where the report states a total, penalties ranged from $2,000 to $16,000.

How to read the order itself

Each action on the HFC listing links to a PDF of the order. Four things in it matter. The first is the date, because an order from 2019 under a previous owner tells you less than one from this year. The second is the rule cited: Tennessee's ACLF rules are in chapter 0720-26 (orders before mid-2022 cite the old numbering, 1200-08-25). A citation under section .07 concerns services provided, .08 admissions, discharges and transfers, .10 life safety, and .12 resident records.

The third is the size and structure of the penalty. Tennessee's schedule allows up to $1,000 per violation for problems with room, board, personal services, medical services, care plans, records or fire safety, and up to $3,000 per resident for admitting or keeping someone whose needs the facility cannot meet. Several separate penalties in one order usually means several separate findings. The fourth is the conditions: probation, a contingent change-of-ownership approval, or required training tell you the commission wanted ongoing proof, not just payment.

Orders that mention elopement policies, fire drills or resident records point to specific, checkable practices. You can ask to see the elopement policy, the fire drill log and a blank resident record during a tour.

Questions to ask the administrator

Bring the order with you. Ask what the surveyors found, what the facility changed, who monitors the change now, and whether the administrator and director of nursing are the same people who were there when the problem occurred. Ask for the most recent statement of deficiencies and plan of correction; Tennessee does not publish assisted living survey reports in bulk, so the facility is your source.

A good administrator will answer directly. Evasion is itself information. And remember that a clean disciplinary record is not a clean inspection record: a facility can have deficiencies on every survey without ever drawing a penalty order.

Every licensed ACLF in the three counties has its own page on this site listing each HFC action with its date and summary, plus any mention in the Facility Action and Abuse Reports since January 2025.

How old orders and ownership changes fit in

Assisted living buildings change hands, and a Tennessee license belongs to the licensee, not the building. When an operator sells or leases the operation, the new owner must file a change-of-ownership application at least 30 days ahead, and the commission can make approval contingent on paying penalties from the prior period. Some recent Memphis-area orders are labeled exactly that way: a “contingent change of ownership” order with civil monetary penalties attached.

What the Facility Action and Abuse Reports add

Each month the Health Facilities Commission publishes a Facility Action and Abuse Report listing every disciplinary action the commission took the month before, across all facility types, with the licensee, license number, city and penalty. It is the quickest way to see new orders without searching facility by facility, and it sometimes includes nursing homes and homes for the aged in the same list.

On our facility pages, we match each report entry to a license by license number and name. Where the report and the listing disagree on a name, for example after a rebrand, we show the report's wording so families can recognize it. If you are deciding between two buildings, read both facilities' recent report entries side by side; the size and type of penalty often says more than the count.

Does a disciplinary action mean a Memphis facility is unsafe?

Not by itself. It means the commission formally penalized the license at some point. Look at the date, the rule cited and whether conditions were attached, then ask what changed.

Where can I read the actual order?

On the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission's facility listings at internet.health.tn.gov/FacilityListings; each action links to its order.

What is a consent order?

An order in which the facility agrees to the penalty, usually civil monetary penalties, without a contested hearing. It is the most common form of ACLF discipline in the Memphis-area records.

Do routine inspection findings appear as disciplinary actions?

No. Routine deficiencies are corrected through a plan of correction and do not appear in the disciplinary count.