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 ****************************** Don't give in to Property Management contracts - K&K can help July 10, 2026 ********************* Don't give in to Property Management contracts - K&K can help ********************* Ken, On June 2025 an alarm company we were representing asked if your office could help with a contract that a property manager insisted that alarm companies sign, which contained provisions that caused unnecessary exposure for the alarm company. I understand why alarm companies enter into these agreements; big customer, large installation fee, large RMR, and other benefits. If the relationship is good the company can expect even more business from the Property Management company. The problem is that these property manager contracts many times turn an alarm company into a de facto insurance company (or co-insurance company) for a small RMR fee. I can understand that during the install the customer wants to be covered if a tech falls through a ceiling, breaks a window, or drills through a water pipe, but when the relationship morphs to monitoring there shouldn’t be an expectation that the alarm company is going to write a $20 million check if the building burns to the ground. Our client was buying alarm accounts from another alarm company who had signed a property manager agreement. Typically this property manager contract required the alarm company to indemnify the customer, a $40 million facility. The alarm company was trying to sell this contract along with the rest of its contract portfolio and the Buyer would not accept the Agreement (as they shouldn’t have). This particular contract was a significant part of the portfolio and put the entire deal in jeopardy. After several months of delays the Buyers asked you to speak with the customer about making some changes to the Property Manager's Agreement. No one had a lot of hope for this but I was optimistic. You were able to secure the required changes in a single call that lasted around 15 minutes. Buyer was happy, customer was happy, and the Seller was able to sell the Agreement for around $110,000. Definitely worth the price. The best part was that the Buyer was [and is] a Concierge Client in the K&K Concierge Program and it didn't cost anything because it was the free half hour monthly contract negotiation that comes with the Concierge Program. ****************** Response ****************** I remember this one because it took a while for the seller and buyer to agree to send the subscriber to me for negotiations. The subscriber needed the alarm services and the system was not one that could easily be taken over by another alarm company, certainly not with any continuity or seemly transition. Getting this Subscriber's property manager to agree to the Standard K&K agreement for the services was a bit easier when I explained that the services, and the alarm system, would cease to work unless a K&K contract was signed. I forget how long I gave them to consider the matter, but long enough to find a pen. I do several contract negotiations a day for the alarm industry and a good many of them are with property managers; some are definitely more difficult than others, but as a rule the negotiations are successful and the deal made. Alarm - security - integrators - who sign these Property Management contracts, vendor contracts, any contracts other than their K&K standard forms, are silly to reckless. The Concierge Program pays for itself with one successful negotiation and piece of advice. Sign up today and get grandfathered in before the cost of participation goes up. ****************** STANDARD FORMS 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 ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* 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 / Email 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. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** 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
