Question:
********
hi ken
this is w and I have a question to ask you.
We signed a contract with a building owner to monitor their sprinkler system. The building owner's insurance company did a survey of the building and requested that the sprinkler system be monitored. In addition, the insurance company requests a letter from us stating the sprinkler system is now being monitored. But we are starting the installation next week and the insurance company wants this letter tomorrow.
First, can I write this letter without the installation not being completed and be protected by our insurance if there is a loss?
Second, if your answer is no and the insurance company still wants this letter, is it possible to have the building owner sign a waiver of lawsuit until the installation is installed and connected to central station.
Will a waiver of a lawsuit protect us if there is loss? Or what do you suggest to do?
w
**************
Answer:
********
I suggest that you not write that letter. The building owner can't protect you from a fraud claim and possible criminal prosecution. What if that letter for the insurance company is used by the owner to get rid of the fire department and then the building has a fire; people injured or die. Tell the truth - it's always easier and safer in the long run.
*********
Question:
***********
Dear Mr. Kirschenbaum,
Wanted to run a quick question by you if you had a moment. I run an alarm central station in Providence and we are looking to upgrade receiver equipment. One of the issues is by upgrading this equipment is we must take ownership of some local alarm dealer’s local phone number’s. Dealers can be reluctant to do this as then they loose control of their receiver line should they want to move to another central station. Have you drafted or know of any particular document we could obtain to give our alarm dealer as a promissory note or something of that nature that if they wanted to take their local phone number back and go somewhere else (different central station) we would then re-release the line back into their ownership?
Thanks in advance,
Matt
********
Answer:
********
You can agree by contract, simple letter agreement should suffice, that you will transfer the rights to the telephone number to the dealer upon his request. You can give the dealer a security interest in the rights which can be perfected by filing a UCC-1. Your agreement can also have a stiff monetary damage provision if you don't comply with the transfer. I can draft this for you.
***********
Question:
********
Hi Ken.
I have a question regarding collections. A customer bought a system
from me about 4 years ago and recently requested that we add some equipment to
their system. They couldn't be home, so they left the key outside for our
tech. He performed the work and left the invoice with a note to send us a
check. The amount was a little over $500. That was on March 2. Our invoice
states that payment for service calls is due when rendered, and after 10 days
a 10% late fee applies. After 2 weeks we called them a few times but were only
able to leave voice mails. We then mailed out a reminder and late notice with
a copy of the repair order. Still no response. We tried more phone calls with
messages and another letter, and still nothing. It's now been over three
months. We bill them quarterly for monitoring service and they pay that bill.
I finally reached the customer by phone about two weeks ago and he told me he
would send the payment. Well, now here's another two weeks and nothing.
Here's my question. If I add the amount of the service call to their next bill
for monitoring service and they choose only to pay the regular amount for
monitoring, can I apply that payment first to the oldest outstanding balance,
i.e. the service call? Then, can I terminate monitoring service when I don't
receive the rest?
Kind regards,
Lenny
*********
Answer:
*******
First of all you should not be adding equipment without a Sales Contract, signed before you do the work. You have no contract, only an after the fact invoice. You cannot apply a payment to oldest accounts receivable if the payment can be identified with a particular charge. In your case, the monitoring charge is separate from the new sales charge. You also can't terminate monitoring if that service is paid for and being paid. Hopefully you have a Monitoring Contract and as long as that is being paid you should provide the service. Sounds like you need to buy the Standard Alarm Contracts, use them and be more careful.
*********
Question:
********
Ken.
Thank you for supporting the discussion of "audio and video interactive monitoring and recording". Much of the new legislation, all across the country, is including audio and or video as verification technologies. As usual the legislation by itself does not offer any specifications or standards.
Does such legislation add or subtract from the liability issues?
Thank you.
Dave Foglio,
First Response Systems
********
Answer:
********
You raise a good point. Video and audio alarm verification legislation would seem to run afoul of existing audio laws and some more recent video laws. The laws I have seen don't except audio during alarm conditions, although in prior articles I have opined that anyone present on premises during an alarm condition has no expectation of privacy and therefore two way or even one way audio is permissible, or should be. Same for video which legislation, so far, is less restrictive. The legislation isn't keeping up with the technology and availability of alarm monitoring services. Looks like wait and see situation.
*********
Question:
*******
Ken,
I came across a contract that says…
The agreement shall be renewed for the same period of time as set forth herein,
If the contract is 5 years, does the contract legally renew another 5 years with this verbiage?
Joe Del Pizzo
*********
Answer:
********
Yes, as long as you're not in a state that requires something else for automatic renewal.
********
Question:
******
Ken,
We resigned an existing condo, yesterday, that we monitored for the builder and now it has been turned over to the unit owners. The condo pays for fire alarm monitoring $130.00 per month. Today the condo president requested service on the fire alarm so we informed them that they can pay T&M $150 per hour with a 3 hour min. for service or they can purchase a service contract for an additional monthly fee of $150.00. The condo sent several emails up and back and they finally settled on $140.00 per month additional and agreed to a service contract.
My question is we sent them an email asking them permission to check off the service contract box on the existing fire alarm contract, which is only 24 hours old. We also ask their permission to add the additional amount to the monthly fee box on the contract. We then ask him to send his consent by reply email and we would attach it to the contract as a addendum.
Is this legal and will it hold up if we need to sue in the future, and more importantly will your office later tell us they can't collect because we made the change this way to the contract.
Do we need to return for a new contract ???
W
**********
Answer:
*********
The better practice would be to have proper contracts executed, which here would mean going back and getting a new contract signed with the new terms.
However, if the emails are properly worded and clearly sent from the subscriber there is no reason you can't amend your contract by such electronic writing. My reluctance is only that I haven't seen the emails so I can't comment on whether they are worded in such a way to amend the contract and bind new terms.