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QUESTION: WHY AUTOMATIC RENEWAL IS ESSENTIAL
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Ken,b    I have really benefited from your newsletter.  Thanks.
    Commercial investment properties are bought and sold all the time.  When a property is sold a new property management team usually takes responsibility for operations, service contracts, etc.  More and more these companies insist on one year agreements (owner won't permit any long term contracts) that are renegotiated annually.  For new re-signs on an existing account where no equipment is installed we insist on a minimum of one year with automatic renewal and 30 day advance notice of cancellation. Otherwise, it is 3 years.  Most are OK with this if they have an out for the building being sold or in case the management replaced. Some are not.  Never mind that they will spend more on paper towels for the building than fire monitoring.
    Where I get stuck is in explaining the necessity for the automatic renewal.  We require a written notice to cancel an account and don't rely on contract expirations.bThanks from Colorado
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RESPONSE
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    Burglar alarm companies have evolved into life safety professionals.  Sure, not every alarm system involves life safety equally.  Intrusion system in vacant building may not have the same life safety issues as as fire alarm system, smoke and CO detectors, environmental alarms that detect escaping poisons, etc.  So the simple answer to the subscriber who balks at an automatic renewal is that without the automatic continuation of the contractual relationship to provide your service, that service is going to abruptly stop when the contract expires.  
    So your subscriber demands that you provide notice of the upcoming expiration.  But why should you be put to that added chore, added responsibility.  What if the notice is not received or acted upon by the subscriber.  Will another notice be required by this subscriber that service is going to terminate and yet another notice that service has terminated?  
    See if this difficult subscriber is willing to give you the notice that the contract is expiring and they want to renew it.  Without that notice the service stops abruptly without notice.
    So you end up with a building with no fire protection; a life supporting device without an alarm monitor; a building where poisonous contaminants may escape into the air.  Why, so your keen negotiating subscriber can be assured of a one year or less monitoring deal?  Tell them to find someone else.
    Yes your contract can certainly be modified for this subscriber so that some events need to take place before termination, and that the protective provisions will survive the expiration of the contract in the event your services continue.  That terminology and the negotiations with this pain in the butt subscriber [property or risk manager or more likely an attorney with nothing better to do] can be drafted, but why do you want to go to that expense.  It's going to cost at least $500 and perhaps a lot more [depending on how smart the other attorney wants to show me he is].  
    I get involved in negotiations with subscribers and their attorneys several times a week; have heard it all, and I don't think the month to month renewal has ever been an issue.  You need to insist on it.
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LATE FEES
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Ken 
    Is there a reason why the Standard Commercial All in One Agreement doesn’t have a “late fee” clause to it? I read over it, the other office assistant read over it, and the owner read over it and neither of us could find something that would fit to it. In the past, we have purchased contracts that does have a late fee clause in it.
Thank you,
Noemi Lopez, Administrative Assistant
Chula Vista Alarm Inc
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RESPONSE
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    Yes.  I don't like them.  Some states regulate how much you can charge for a late fee.  I figure if the subscriber isn't paying or not paying on time adding a late fee isn't going to help you collect.  Sure some of the subscribers are going to pay the late fee regularly.  You can add a late fee to the contract but for residential subscribers you should let us check the law in your state to see if there are regulations in place.  
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YOU'RE HAVING PROBLEM WITH ADT CLASS ACTION
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Ken
    I'm having a problem w ADT class action law suit.  How do I respond to it??  
We now sell DMP which is a 2way system and hacking does not apply but we sold 1way system since 1980 what about those clients??
Thank you,
Bob Hanley
Certified Security & Sound
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RESPONSE
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    First, let them know you're not ADT.  Second, let them know they aren't a military installation or Fort Knox.  Third, tell them if they want a system that can't be hacked you can provide it if they want to pay for it.  Fourth, use the Standard Form Agreements which clearly warns them the system is not encrypted and that it can be hacked.  If they want remote access that's the risk they take.
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