Q&A contract commencement date

Question:

Ken,

I have never seen this question posed.   A contract is dated in
the body of the agreement with a date, the customer signs it and then puts that
current date lets say two weeks later.   Because of construction at the location to be
protected the job is completed three months later.   The customer then makes the
first payment for the monthly monitoring and lease charge.

What is consider the official starting date of the agreement or real term
of the agreement (starting and finishing) in the event of a collecting case and
purposes of the certified renewal letter in the period stated in so many days
before the expiration date?   Is there any language that the agreement can state that
the agreement officially starts on the date of the completion of the
installation as opposed to any of the other dates but still holds the customer 
bound to doing business with you?

Thanks for you response S. Gilbert

___________________________

Answer:

   The "starting date" in a contract should be sufficient clear and
percise so that there is no ambiguity.  Long ago I confronted this
problem in collection cases where the contract for monitoring or
leasing provided that the monthly charge commenced upon completion of
the installation.  In cases where the installation was prevented
entirely or where the subscriber claimned that the installation was not
complete, the argument was made by the subscriber that the monthly
charges did not begin; that nothing was owed.
    I changed the contracts a long time ago to deal with this problem.
All recurring revenue contracts that I offer [www.alarmcontracts.com]
provide that the recurring charges begin on the first of the month
next succeeding the execution of the contract.
    You can also have a single date of contract on the top of the
contract.  The signatures do not need to be dated, and the top can
read that the contract is "dated as of this   day of    ."  The "as
of" signifies that the ducument may have been signed on a date
different than the date of the contract.