HispanicBusiness

A French nursing home drew condemnation Monday for evicting a 94-year-old woman at the weekend because she failed to pay her rent.

The Villa Beausoleil home in the south-western Parisian suburb of Chaville packed the woman and her belongings into an ambulance after her bill hit 40,000 euros (52,549 dollars), L'Echo Republicain daily reported.

The ambulance driver was instructed to take her to her son's house or, if no one was home - as was the case - to a hospital.

The nursing home, which charges residents 124 euros a day, told the newspaper it took the decision after sending several registered letters to the woman's son about her bill, which went unanswered.

The son told the paper he was on holidays in southern France when ambulance personnel called. He said he would be returning home shortly.

The regional health authority is investigating the case, which comes in the middle of the winter moratorium on evictions.

Villa Beausoleil, which has five nursing homes in the greater Paris area and which proclaims to treat residents "like members of the family" has expressed regret for its handling of the case and offered to take her back.