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 ****************************** still more comments on NY legislation to fine alarm companies for false alarms September 8, 2025 *********************** still more comment on NY legislation to fine alarm companies for false alarms from article on August 22, 2025 *********************** Ken, You responded to C. Hunter that not one alarm company has communicated to you that they have paid a false alarm fine on behalf of the customer. I hope you meant that no New York dealers have paid any fines. As I have written to you previously, our company has paid numerous fines on behalf of customers. It is standard procedure for Cry Wolf to consider every alarm dispatch in those areas in Georgia that have false alarm legislation to be the fault of the alarm company, unless proven otherwise. When presented with a false alarm assessment for our customers by CryWolf, our standard procedure is to immediately pay the false alarm fine directly to Cry Wolf, who is the acting agency that is authorized to communicate and collect false alarm fines on behalf of the municipalities, and then investigate with our central station personnel and dispatch records and also with the customer to determine the reason for the false alarm. If the alarm is the result of customer action, and almost all are, we then send the false alarm fine to the customer to reimburse the company. We do this to protect both our operating license and our ability to continue to dispatch for alarms in these areas. This also protects the customers, so they do not lose the privilege of having police respond to a future alarm condition at their home or business. Years ago, we instituted best practices to help reduce false alarm dispatches. Georgia is already a two-call state, we also provide instant Text-Alert notification of alarm condition to all customers at no charge. I have a dedicated team that reviews every alarm dispatch within 24 hours and contact customers to determine if alarm condition was real or if a false alarm dispatch, what we can do together to reduce possibility of future false dispatches. We offer two-way voice or cameras to every customer to provide ability of customers to help verify if an alarm condition is real. We offer programs for central station verification of alarms through voice or video, if this is a good fit for the customer. Chronic false alarm customers are subject to having the service suspended or cancelled if they are not willing to work with us to remedy the problem. The above has resulted in substantial reduction in the number of false alarms for our customers. Vince Raia, President EMC Security ********************* Ken: Since someone has ‘opened the door’ regarding NY and Cry Wolf, I’m ‘walking through it’. Kansas City Missouri had a GREAT Alarm Unit and it was so successful the false alarm rate went from 5.0 to 0.5! Many of the KCB&FAA dealers helped by ‘teaching’ the classes that were held (*at night, of course) along with the Alarm Unit’s head. The MODEL STATES PROGRAM mandated the false alarm customer after xx false alarms HAD to go to class – THAT IS WHAT DROVE THE RATE DOWN!!! NOT THE FINES!!! Kansas City proudly got the FARA (False Alarm Reduction Association) award. THEN, a lot of very hard work went down the drain!!!!!! DO NOT GO CRY WOLF IF YOU CAN PREVENT IT !!!!!!!!! IT IS A MESS!!!!!!! Kansas City was going down the path of getting a 1-900 number curtesy of a council member who was told by the local phone company how much money could be gotten. It was a hard and horrible battle that was fought and we had to actually hire a lobbyist to get in to see the council and mayor. THAT is a reason for association dues – to have a war chest when required to fight those dragons when they pop up! Joseph Pfefer Chairman False Alarm Task Force *********************** Response *********************** I forgot about CryWolf, which I have heard of but haven't heard much about in long time. As I understand it CryWolf fines the alarm company. I also know that Georgia has at least one municipality that fines alarm companies for false alarms. While no alarm company has complained to me about getting a false alarm fine, plenty of alarm companies have been "asked" by their customer to pay a false alarm fine. Sometimes it causes contract disputes and withhold of the RMR payments. The K&K Standard Form Agreements are quite clear on this point, the alarm company is not responsible for any false alarm fines and the subscriber must indemnify the alarm company from any fines, paid or not. Whether you decide for customer relations to ignore this provision and just pay a fine is up to you. I think one point in the initial article on this topic was that fines against the alarm company will make it harder for the alarm company to seek reimbursement than if the customer was fined and wanted the alarm company to reimburse the customer. ********************* 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. *********************** WEBINARS: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ken-kirschenbaum-presents/id1794851477 ************************* 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
