Five Deaths at Unlicensed Central Florida Care Homes: How to Verify a Facility Is Actually Licensed
A judge in Osceola County denied bond this week for Marie Carenan and Ronald Pack, the operators of a network of unlicensed assisted living facilities in Osceola and Polk counties. During a nearly five-hour hearing, investigators testified that they believe five residents died because of the lack of care inside the homes, which operated under names including Cherish Home Care and Cherish Independent Living.
The details from testimony are hard to read. Prosecutors described residents who were allegedly malnourished, dehydrated, and denied medication and medical treatment. Witnesses said residents were locked inside the homes, unable to leave or call 911. Investigators documented padlocked doors, windows, and refrigerators.
Here is the part every Florida family needs to sit with: these homes were on the state's radar for years, and they stayed open anyway.
The System Flagged These Homes. They Kept Operating.
According to investigators' testimony and court records, unsafe conditions were first flagged in 2024 after a fire inspection found locked doors and windows. Between January 2024 and June 2026, there were more than 300 calls for service at eight homes operated by Carenan and Pack.
State regulators repeatedly visited the properties during that period. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) threatened fines of $1,000 per day for unlicensed activity and ordered the operators to cease operations. The Department of Children and Families issued six cease-and-desist orders. Former house managers testified that employees were allegedly given advance notice before inspection visits.
Despite all of it, the facilities were not shut down until the operators were arrested. Carenan and Pack are now charged with felony elder abuse, neglect, welfare fraud, and organized scheme to defraud. Those are charges, not convictions, and the case is ongoing. But the timeline itself is the lesson for families.
This Is Not an Isolated Problem
A 2024 investigation by Orlando's News 6 found that AHCA had documented 243 locations across Florida that inspectors determined were operating as assisted living facilities without a license. Forty of those were in Central Florida.
Operating an unlicensed ALF is a third-degree felony under Florida Statute 429.08, and each day of continued operation counts as a separate offense. The law has teeth on paper. In practice, as this case shows, enforcement can lag behind the harm by months or years.
That gap is why families cannot outsource this check to the state. If a home is providing housing, meals, and personal services like medication assistance to unrelated adults, it meets Florida's definition of an assisted living facility and needs an AHCA license. That includes small private homes with just a few residents, which is exactly what the Cherish network was.
How to Verify a License in Under Five Minutes
Before you tour a facility, and absolutely before anyone moves in, run these checks.
1. Search FloridaHealthFinder. AHCA's consumer site at FloridaHealthFinder.gov lets you search every licensed ALF, adult family care home, and nursing home in the state by name, city, or county. If the facility does not appear, that is not a paperwork quirk. It is a stop sign.
2. Ask for the license number, then verify it. Every licensed Florida ALF has an AHCA license number, and facilities are required to display their license. Ask for the number directly and confirm it matches the name and address in the state database. An operator who deflects this question is telling you something.
3. Review the inspection history. A license alone is the floor, not the ceiling. Licensed facilities have public inspection records showing deficiencies, complaint investigations, and any fines. A facility with no inspection history at all is a red flag that it may never have been licensed. Our guide on questions to ask when choosing a Florida facility covers how to read what you find.
4. Watch for the physical red flags. The warning signs from this case repeat across unlicensed operations statewide: locked or padlocked exit doors and windows, locked refrigerators, cash-only payment demands, no posted license, staff who cannot answer basic questions about medication management, and operators who discourage unscheduled visits.
5. Be extra careful with informal referrals. Unlicensed homes rarely advertise. They fill beds through word of mouth, hospital discharge pressure, and low prices that seem like a lifeline for families stretched thin. A price dramatically below market rate deserves scrutiny, not relief. Our Florida pricing guide shows what legitimate assisted living actually costs across 18 cities, so you have a baseline.
If You Suspect an Unlicensed Facility
Report it. AHCA's complaint hotline is 888-419-3456, and you can file online through the agency's Health Care Facility Complaint Form. If you suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult, call the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873. You do not need proof to make a report. That is the investigators' job.
If a loved one is currently in a facility you cannot verify, start working on placement alternatives now rather than waiting for an investigation to conclude. If you are not sure where to begin, our guide on where to start when a parent needs help in Florida walks through the first steps.
The Bottom Line
The families whose loved ones lived in the Cherish homes did not fail anyone. Many were doing their best in a system that let flagged facilities keep operating for two years. But the single most protective step available to any family is also the simplest: verify the license before anything else.
Every facility listed on EldercareData.com is built from official AHCA and CMS licensing and inspection data. If a facility appears on this site, it holds a state license, and you can see its inspection record before you ever pick up the phone. You can browse every licensed facility by county and compare inspection histories side by side.
Verification takes five minutes. As this case makes painfully clear, it can matter more than anything else on your checklist.
Sources: WFTV Channel 9 Eyewitness News court hearing coverage and investigation into Cherish Home Care and Cherish Independent Living (July 2026); Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Unlicensed Activity guidance and complaint procedures; Florida Statutes 429.07 and 429.08; WKMG News 6 investigation into unlicensed assisted living facilities (January 2024); Florida Department of Children and Families public statements.