KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Need help with third party vendor dealer agreements / why an alarm.com Rider
November 27, 2020
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Need help with third party vendor dealer agreements / why an alarm.com rider
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Ken
            We use your Standard Form Agreements, the All in One agreements. We use your Rider for alarm.com services with our Residential All in One when offering alarm.com products and services to our subscribers.  We are now installing cellular communicators from other companies, such as the Napco Starlink and Alarmnet from Honeywell. 
            Is there another contract or rider to use for cellular communicators that are not alarm.com such as the Napco Starlink or Honeywell communicators we are installing?
  Thank you,
Bob
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Response
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            I need help to answer this question regarding "third party vendors".  I suppose I should define how I use the term "third party vendor".  It's a manufacturer or provider of software service that provides a platform for signals to travel from the subscriber's alarm system through the "third party vendor's" server or software before then being transmitted [automatically, without human monitoring or intervention] to a professional monitoring center or the subscriber directly, or both. 
            I cannot find the alarm.com dealer agreement on-line.  We designed the alarm.com rider at a time when alarm.com required dealers to include certain provisions in their end user contracts.  I believed those provisions were inconsistent with the terms in the Standard Form Agreements and less protective than the terms in the Standard Form Agreement.  Therefore, instead of incorporating those alarm.com terms we required alarm.com end users to agreement to the alarm.com terms.  The Rider also described what alarm.com services the end user was getting.  I could not figure out why alarm.com didn't require the end user to just agree to terms and conditions before activating the service.  
            Other "third party vendors", such as Napco and Alarmnet, did not require Dealers to include inconsistent terms in the end user agreement, nor did they require end users to sign contracts with them.  Thus, alarm.com was the only third party vendor that required an end user to sign a contract directly with alarm.com.
            I am not so sure this is still required.  Are there any alarm.com dealers who can shed some light on this? [I don't expect to hear from alarm.com, but it is certainly welcome to comment].  Here is what we need to know:
1.         What do dealer agreements between alarm dealers and third party vendors require?  I need to see dealer agreements for alarm.com, alarmnet, napco starlink, nest, and any other "programs".  
2.         I will review these dealer agreements to determine if separate contracts, riders or forms are needed when the Standard Form All in One agreement is used.  It's possible that alarm.com now permits end users to agree to the alarm.com terms on-line when activating the account.  Can anyone [who is a dealer] clear this up?
            To reemphasize, only alarm.com required its dealers to get specific terms and conditions signed by the end user either by incorporating those terms in the end user agreement or getting a separate alarm.com end user agreement signed.  I need a current alarm.com dealer to send me the current "dealer" agreement, and I'll also confirm that the other third party vendors do not require a dealer to get end users to agree to specific terms in the end user contract, and if they do, that those terms are not inconsistent with the terms in the Standard Form Agreement.  Other third party vendors do require end users to agree to terms, but those terms are agreed to on-line before systems are activated.  Dealers are not responsible for getting those terms accepted by end users.  Also, be be clear, The contractual protection you need is found in the Standard Form Agreements.  If third party vendors want to rely on other terms,  that's their privilege; my job is to protect our clients, the dealers, who should be relying on the Standard Form Agreements.
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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