KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ********************** More comment on complaining about others who operate without alarm license / jab at brokers August 12 2023 ************************** More comment on complaining about others who operate without alarm license from article on August 5, 2023 *************************** Ken Have a license, but when you were starting the process was it was very involved or maybe just passive and minimal to do? Now that you are licensed, you are complaining about those who are not and competing with you. The answer here is just to turn them into the proper authorities, it is that simple. Do not expect other to do that for you because you want to remain invisible and anonymous. Either step up or do nothing and don’t complain. After that, it is the problem of others to follow through or not. If you had application licensing issues with all the information that was required initially, even though you met all the qualifications prior to the requirement, you should have been more proactive before it went into effect. I am sure there were public hearings and committee meetings that you could have voiced you options at that time and not after the fact. When done so successfully, certain item may not have been required or existing contractors may not have had to meet. If those unlicensed persons of firms that have competed and taken jobs away from you, call it a blessing since those who engaged in their service would not pay you your price when they think they are getting a bargain. You should be busy enough with your own work so that you would not find the time to be concerned what others are doing who do not follow your play book. Here is another scenario that I would like you to comment on. Take note that all business brokers reading this should not since whey will always have an answer on how great their diligence is on behalf of the clients. ABC alarm company either does not have a license, the license holder has passed away or it expired and was never renewed. The agreements that they have with their customers are ten year ones. Additionally they have also bought accounts from other firms with ten year agreements that are currently in place. On their agreements, in this case is a license number for a license that expired. Both previous agreements and new ones have this number printed on them. The owner now sell his firm to another alarm company with a one year guarantee period. After the one year guarantee period has expired some of those customers decide to cancel their agreements or a past employee decides to solicit them away. In both cases the customer states when cancelling that they are not bound by any agreement since the firm that was sold either never had a license or it was expired when they entered into an agreement with them so therefore they are not bound by that agreement and could cancel at any time regardless if they had the services in place and were paying for it after the sale. Other then you and the other business brokers saying that the proper diligence was not take here to insure that this could not happen. Can the customer cancel the agreement without any repercussions? Is there any actions that can be taken against the old owner who never stated that he had an active license or one to begin with? There may not have been a reason to confirm the license status since it was just assumed that without one you would not operate. This is not a real situation but as stated just a scenario so hold the stone toughing. Yours truly, Just For The Hell Of It *************************** Response *************************** The take-away advice should be get all the licenses you need to operate your business; take the time to file complaints against those you know are operating their competing business without the required licenses, or as the above suggests, keep your head down, mouth shut and mind your own business. The hypothetical scenario raises lots of license issues. A general rule would be, especially for residential customers, that an unlicensed contractor cannot enforce a contract; cannot collect money owed and the customer could cancel. That cancellation right would not necessarily be absolute because of ratification and estoppel issues. But let’s just agree it’s risky and plain stupid to operate without a proper license. A business needs the license when it enters into the contract to perform the service and it needs the license when it performs the services. A licensed company can sell its accounts to another licensed company. A licensed company usually has some period to replace a license when the license holder dies, but the company should act within that time period to replace the license holder or sell the accounts. If you’re in a buy-sell transaction and your attorney has even a glimmer of knowledge of alarm deals [and most likely fit this category] the contract of sale will include a representation that the seller and buyer are properly licensed. I don’t know about assuming that to be the case because the parties will likely be required to produce their license and list the license in the contract of sale. This is not, by the way, a “broker” function; it’s the lawyer’s responsibility. Those of you selling or buying would be wise not to rely on your broker, your relative or your family attorney to handle the transaction. It’s pretty simple; ask “how many alarm transactions have you handled?”; “How many of your alarm transactions had litigation before or after the closing?”. Unfortunately most of you only want to know “how much is this going to cost in legal fees” and you will probably find out that the least knowledgeable or experienced attorney will end up charging the most legal fees and your chances of post-closing disputes will significantly increase and your bargain lawyer will definitely not be there for you when that fan starts spinning and you know what hits it. ************************* STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
