Why this Case Study?
In Bulletin # 2, we identified the largest property owners in the U.S. nursing home system – the REITs, private equity landlords, and opaque holding companies that control the physical infrastructure of care. Bulletin 3 now turns to a concrete example – an illustration of how property ownership and excess capital is channeled into the assets of large corporations and wealthy investors.
How it Works:
For decades, policymakers, journalists, and even regulators have been told that nursing home ownership is “too complicated” to trace. That myth has protected billions of dollars in taxpayer‑funded real estate extraction. Bulletin #3 begins to dismantle that myth.
This issue shows, step by step, how a single nursing home — an ordinary, unremarkable facility in Albuquerque — can be followed from its public-facing operator to the private equity structures, REITs, and tax‑advantaged entities that ultimately control the property and siphon value from it.
What This Bulletin Demonstrates: All Commercial Real Estate Has a Footprint in the Public records.
This is not a theoretical exercise. As the schematic below demonstrates, it is a forensic reconstruction using only public records:
- Secretary of State filings
- County assessor data
- CMS cost reports
- SEC proxy statements
By placing these documents side by side, we reveal a system that is intentionally fragmented, but not impenetrable.
Step 1: Search for listed owner in Bernalillo County New Mexico property database.
Step 2: Search for listed owner of the property – Albuquerque Real Estate Investments, Inc. – in the New Mexico Secretary of State Business database.
Step 3: Identify names associated with documents submitted for incorporation or formation of an LLC.
Step 4: Search the Internet and Other Sources for Officers of the Incorporated Entity. Pam Kessler & Wendy Simpson are Executives and Officers of LTC Properties, Inc. – publicly listed on the NASDAQ and one of the largest REITs in the U.S. nursing home industry.
Key Takeaways from the Sandia Ridge Property
- One of the largest commercial property owners in the U.S. is channeling capital provided by taxpayers through a secretive subsidiary incorporated in the State of Delaware for the purpose of secrecy, obscurity, tax arbitrage, and avoidance of liability.
- The mission of the officers and directors of LTC Properties, Inc. is optimization of shareholder value through excessive extraction. As is common three investment firms – Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street – own a large proportion of the outstanding stock (37%).
- Conditions of leases in the nursing home industry are onerous. Known as “triple net leases” – leasees pay rent, maintenance, insurance, and taxes.
- The capital costs submitted by the facility in 2024 of ~$2 million are equal to the assessed value of the building.
- State auditors invariably fail to challenge excessive capital costs by evaluating building age, class, condition, neighborhood, and other factors.
How to Read This Issue
This bulletin is designed as a template for future investigations.
We will continue to walk readers through:
- The financial machinations of ownership chains
- Typical real estate structures
- Financial flows
- Regulatory blind spots
- The public consequences of excessive and cleverly extracted cash that should be devoted to care
The goal is not simply to expose one facility. It is to show how any facility can be traced — and how the same patterns repeat across the country.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
In this issue we have demonstrated a typical pattern of behavior on the part of investors. The question that should be asked is “Why must we go through these steps to expose ownership and leasing arrangements?” It is clear that our government has failed patients and taxpayers by not ensuring transparency and fair pricing. Investors secretly channel taxpayers’ money through a shadowy tunnel of shell companies simply because they can.
The United States spends hundreds of billions of public dollars on nursing home care, yet the public has no right to know who owns the buildings, who profits from them, or how money moves through the system. A democracy cannot regulate what it cannot see. A national nursing home property ledger is not radical—it is overdue. If the government can fund and implement a data collection system and surveillance state that tracks and profiles hundreds of millions of citizens, then it can collect and store a blockchain accounting system that records every transaction pertaining to ~ 14,700 nursing home properties supported by Medicaid and Medicare revenue.
David E. Kingsley, PhD