November 18, 2010

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off site video

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To John regarding video:

    You need to find a HeiTel dealer.  Go to HeiTel.com and check out their product.  There’s nothing that I know of on the market that comes close and their customer list (McDonald’s™, KFC™, Rolls Royce, T-Mobile, etc) and market share in Europe and Africa is impressive.  They are now in the US and myself along with some other central stations are starting to make some good money ($300 RMR on one account, for example).  When you can tell your client that if any piece of equipment fails (or their power or internet service), he’s notified; if someone tries to vandalize the property, you can verbally come across the speaker and talk two way with the person; link into the access control to open doors based on visual and verbal communication, control PTZs from an iPhone™, email video of crimes in progress live to the police that are responding and tons more, you get the sale.  The product sells itself and has been a God-send to my video business.  It’s even better that we’re on the central station side but that’s only insofar as the profits go.  Plus HeiTel will partner with only one dealer in an area so you lock out your competition.  No one else has anything like it so when you go up against someone selling a standard DVR (take your pick of manufactures), you win.

David Myers

Myers Protection Services

Indianapolis, Indiana

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credit card charges

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To Ben Stung

  Ben,

 Paypal has been charging percentage fees for over a decade now!!!

 Maybe there was some period at the inception when they offered it for free - to receiving party- otherwise there was always a fee of 2% to almost 4% whether someone paid through credit card or checking account.

  I know that they always want you to use your checking account because it's 1.  cheaper for them to process ACH than to process a credit card , and 2.   there is very little recourse with the bank where you have your checking account in case there is something wrong with the item you purchased.  However, with the credit card you can always dispute the charges even after Paypal's 30 day dispute policy.

Go and read all the terms again.

Thanks

HSS

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Ken

     Another question about credit card fees to PCI pro.

    “As I stated in a previous article, as per Card Brand Association rules, it is illegal for a third party of any kind to charge a convenience fee for processing transactions”

    In that case at least all the State of New Jersey at least is in violation or the credit card processors that work with them or both are in violations because all of the charge a convenience fees every time you get something done, mostly it’s payment for vital services like vehicle registrations, ticket payments and others according to what you are claiming.

What do you have to say about that and can it be challenged if it’s true for these types of transactions?

Thank you

HSS

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Response:

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    "Illegal" is probably the wrong word because that means criminal.  Credit card charges are governed by merchant agreements.   So charging a transaction fee that is not authorized by the nerchant account agreement is not illegal [unless there is a statute also] but a breach of the merchant account agreement.

    State agencies that accept charge cards and require you to pay the transaction charge so that the agency gets the full amount due no doubt has that arrangement with whatever merchant account provider the agency is using.

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Mechanic liens

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Hello Ken,

    Regarding Repossessing Equipment November 11, 2010:

    This comment and advice to fellow dealers is based on experience that I had in the 1990's here in Pennsylvania.  Put briefly, you have plenty of opportunity to blow your chances of collecting solely by way of a Mechanic's Lien. 

    In one case, unbeknownst to me, the husband was building his wife's dream house while not revealing that she was terminally ill.  When payment was not forthcoming, I waited until the last minute before sending the required advance notice and then I filed a mechanic's lien.  No one ever requested a Release of Liens from me.  The wife died.  The Owner/husband lived in the property ignoring my modest internal collection efforts which eventually faded out.  But of course, I felt comfortable that I would eventually get paid because I had a Mechanic's Lien, and other things got too busy to be tied up on this problem.  In retrospect, I should also have passed it on to a professional bill collector.

·                     Most construction loans require subcontractors (that's us) to sign a Waiver of Liens, which, of course, you would not willingly do until payment is made or assured to your satisfaction.  (Hint: How to handle Waivers of Liens could be a topic of its own).  However, be aware that the funding for a particular job may not be a conventional mortgage and the buyer may not care about a Waiver of Liens.

·                     In PA you have a very short window of time to warn the buyer in advance that you intend to file a Mechanic's Lien.  My advice is not to let the buyer stall you to the point that you risk missing your statutory deadlines.

·                     As soon as you detect the slightest hint of trouble (or even as a matter of routine on the types of jobs that go sour the most), get qualified legal advice, at least the first time.  Then plot out the legal timetable for that job.

·                     Send the buyer his notification letter.  If you're afraid of offending the buyer, explain that because of the short time allowed to you by law, you're obligated to warn them at this time that you intend to file a lien if not paid according to your agreed terms.  (This letter could get you paid all by itself, but don't count on it.  Stay on the alert.)

·                     Then immediately begin gathering the legal description of the property (as included in the deed) and root out the proper names and contact info for the various parties having an interest.  Your filing will be rejected by the clerk or may be useless if it isn't correct.  It can take some time to get all the required info to prepare your filing.  (Ask the buyer for it if necessary, but double check the info.  My contract says the buyer is required to do all necessary acts to perfect my security interest in the property.  If yours does, you want to point this out in your notification letter.)

·                     Don't write any deals with terms that crowd your statutory time limits, preventing you from filing a lien.  Particularly if you split a job into too many monthly payments, you are setting yourself up to be "worked."  Even if you start getting payments, you can easily get burned on part of the balance.

·                     Don't blink when it comes time to file the lien.  If there's ultimately insufficient proceeds to pay you after the superior liens are paid, you'll be out of luck.  With all the properties going "underwater" these days, that's a real possibility.  You need to be as high on the list as possible.  Treat it like a race.

·                     Once you file it, you can still be thwarted.  A crooked or desperate subscriber could forge the necessary Release of Liens to sell the place and then just disappear.  He can also repeatedly accept Agreements of Sale until he eventually finds a buyer willing or under enough pressure to settle in spite of the lien.  If you're not monitoring the situation continuously, it could be years before you find out about the sale.  (This happened to me.)  Watch for "For Sale" signs and published listings.

·                     Your Mechanic's Lien will expire automatically in about 10 years!  If you don't refile it in time, the property can be sold out from under you and it will pass to the next owner free of that lien.  (This happened to me.)

    Now you have new owners in there.  Do you want to eat crow and sign them up as subscribers or do you want to continue pursuing payment for your 10-year-old equipment?  If you're lucky, the new owners will acknowledge your security interest in the equipment in an addendum to your contract and also agree to a multi-year commitment.  It's all negotiable.  Get what you can without going deeper into the hole.  It's better than nothing.

Lou Arellano