On Sept. 17, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare notified the owners of the Cambridge residence that it was only issuing a provisional license.

Stacey Witalec, a DPW spokeswoman, said the department found serious violations "that directly impacted someone's ability to live."

In November, however, the Radnor-based Cambridge Cos., which owns other assisted-living facilities in the region, notified the state that it would close the 140-bed facility in South Philadelphia.

Residents were told the news in late January.

Witalec said Cambridge staff had been cited for the handling of two allegations of sexual assault. The department said Cambridge did not notify regulators of an alleged assault that occurred sometime in April 2007.

With another alleged assault, on May 20, 2007, the department said staff did not report it in a timely fashion.

Witalec said the department also reported a suspicious death of a Cambridge resident in June 2007 to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

Harry Snyder, regional vice president of Cambridge Cos., said the allegations of sexual assault were unfounded.

"There were none," Snyder said.

He said investigations were conducted by state regulators, police, mental-health advocates and the company.

Of the suspicious-death report, Snyder said, "I'm not familiar with it."

Snyder said the company's decision to close the facility was not related to the downgrading of its license, but rather to the facility's losses.

"The building is losing $40,000 a month and has been doing that for three years," Snyder said.

Snyder said most of the residents relied on fixed incomes. He said the facility got about $33 per person per day in payments from Social Security and the state and had costs of $28 to $35 per person per day.

Snyder said changes in state regulations in 2005 have required the company to add staff and make physical improvements to the property, such as adding fire escapes and changing room sizes.

"It's essentially a charity," Snyder said. "Doing something that's right is one thing, but when you get to a point where you kill your entire business, we have to be careful."