March 19, 2011
******************
************
municipalities signing contracts
***********
Question
*********
Ken,
It is very difficult to get municipal governments to sign monitoring agreements. They want to work off their original tender or RFQ documents.
What has been your experience with this?
Kevin
*********
Answer
*********
You are on the money. Many municipalities will not sign alarm or other vendor contracts. You will need to decide if you want to proceed without your contract protection.
********
permit / license fees
***********
Question
***********
Hi ken,
This is a first for us. I have just received a letter from the Town of Warwick, NY (Orange County) that Alarm Dealers are required to pay a fee to obtain a yearly license to do our work in the Town. I was under the impression that our NYS license covers us and no municipally can ask for an additional license / fee. They have also indicated that a third party Central Station will also have to obtain a license. Please comment.
Randy Ortiz
Electrolock Inc. / Suffern Locksmith and Alarm
***********
Answer
**********
New York has a state wide alarm "installer" license and local municipalities are not permitted to charge another license fee. They can charge permit fees and registration fees, and they do to generate more paperwork and presumably money for the municipality.
********
New York Assoc efforts to license monitoring companies
***********
Comment
************
Hey, its your money at work. Pay membership fees to NYBFAA to screw you and lie to you. Pay tax, fees and fines to government to kill small businesses and drive big companies out to China. Don't worry. Look at the bright side. Next year 2012 will be the predicted end of the world and that's for all - even NYBFAA and the government
Dusan
***********
Question
************
Ken,
What Russell MacDonnell is referring to is that when I read 6E and then re-read 6D I grew concerned over the definitions. These definitions included one defining a central station but makes no further reference to the term directly.
However, what is defined in regards to “Assisting” certainly seems to refer to what a central station does, maintains record of and knows on behalf of it’s dealers and their mutual customer. (See below)
From Article 6D 195-1 Definitions:
(f) Assisting a licensed security or fire alarm system installer includes on-site and off-site participation in the installation, maintenance or servicing of a security or fire alarm system. Assisting also includes having access to or knowledge of the on-line or off-line condition of a security or fire alarm system installed, serviced or maintained by a licensed security or fire alarm systems installer. Assisting also includes having access to or knowledge of the access codes, system protocols, bypass features or hours of operation of a security or fire alarm system installed, serviced or maintained by a licensed security or fire alarm systems installer.
The only way a 6D holder can be assured that any part of 6D does not apply to third party central stations in the eyes of NYS DOS is to request that they respond in writing to clarify the point. If they agree that this shouldn’t include or doesn’t include central stations then since a central station is defined, there should be wording in 6D to specifically exempt them from being considered part of any aspect of the law.
Jason Etter
AVX Integrated Technologies
**************
Response
*********
Interesting point, but Article 6D has not been applied to monitoring companies or their employees.
********
Cancellation notice
**********
Question
*********
Ken:
Comment on 3-day notice of cancellation:
If for no other reason than my own peace of mind that my contracts are all valid, I always use the 3-day notice in every residential contract set, whether in-home or by mail. It's a 3-part NCR form. They get the back 2 copies and I get the front page. Thus a missing notice raises a big red flag in my office. I would want to see the same practice followed for any block of accounts I might buy, and the absence of the forms would reduce the account value to me.
The top half of the page is the notice itself with blank lines for the signature indicating the client's desire to cancel. The bottom half of the page is an acknowledgment section that they actually do sign, with two check boxes:
One box is next to a statement confirming that the sale is "in-home," that you read them the "bit" and gave them the required two copies.
The other box is next to the statement " (Non- "In-Home" Sale) The subject contracts have been or will have been signed by the purchaser after careful consideration and due diligence in examining them, while not in the presence of the seller's representative; and have been or will have been willfully and voluntarily forwarded to the seller for acceptance."
Ken, you imply the sale irrevocably becomes an "in-home sale" as a result of having set foot in their door any time prior to the actual transaction. This is a new twist to me. Can you clarify whether my "non-in-home" disclaimer holds water after we survey the home, offer a proposal, leave a set of contracts behind or mail them out later and the client mails them back? Or, if while on a service or courtesy visit, we leave a set of updated contracts for them to look over and then mail back?
When it comes to superseding an old contract with a new one, let's suppose the subscriber signs the new papers and then cancels within 3 days. Does that create an escape mechanism from a prior contract commitment that you were trying to update (say, from a 5-year deal in its 3rd year to a fresh 5-year deal)?
Lou Arellano
***********
Answer
**********
If you are in contract with your subscriber and during the term, or even after the term, you mail another contract to the subscriber to sign and return, I do not believe you are required to provide the 3 day notice of cancellation.
Whether a "new" contract supersedes an "old" contract depends on the terminology of the contracts. For example, the new contract can specifically provide that it does not commence until the old/existing contract expires; or it could provide that if the new contract is canceled or revoked or breached that the terms of the old contract apply.
But if the contract, both existing and new, are silent on the issue, I suspect that the new contract will be deemed a superseding contract. Once entered into the old contract is over and only the new contract will be enforceable. If the circumstances of the new contract required the 3 day notice of cancellation then the new contract could be canceled without reviving the old contract.
Just one country lawyer's opinion.