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 white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
************************************
Late fees / Central station 2020 webinars
July 11, 2020
***********************
Central Station* 2020 webinar series starts July 13, 2020. K&K will be hosting webinars by central stations, one at a time, who will address "why you should be using our central station". Each webinar will be approximately 20 minutes and then Q&A opportunity. See what your central station has to offer or what others offer, enabling you to choose the right central station for you. You should be using a central station listed on The Alarm Exchange to be assured of quality and more importantly, accountability.
* only central stations on The Alarm Exchange will be invited to participate
*****************************
Register Now for the CS webinar series:
*******
AvantGuard Monitoring Centers - July 13, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/678509033268733199
****************
UCC – United Central Control - July 14, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3503808614443052302
*****************
Rapid Response - July 15, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2467263818567576075
*********************
Dispatch Center - July 16, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5719660994972167691
****************
Statewide Central Station - July 17, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2654849298360793872
************************
Affiliated Monitoring - July 20, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6582371903028819982
*********************
Dynamark Security Centers - July 21, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2732409948268814863
*********************
Stanley Security Wholesale Monitoring July 22, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1266411303572956432
****************
Allstate Security Industries Inc – July 23, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7997485149440152333
****************
General Monitoring Services - July 28, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6847800607085109776
**********************
Late fees
**********************
Ken,
I belong to several social media groups for Alarm business owners. One of today’s topics was whether or not to charge late fees. I was thinking that you may want to weigh in on the need to ensure that an alarm company’s contract allows it to do so. I would think that a well written Monitoring Contract would help a Company avoid usury issues.
Mitch Reitman
Reitman Consulting Group
Fort Worth, TX
817-698-9999
http://www.reitman.us
************************
Response
************************
You can charge a late fee, but only if it’s provided for in the contract, and only if it’s in compliance with any state laws that govern late charges.
None of the Standard Form Agreements provide for late charges. Of course you can add that provision and we have added it for many clients. Why don’t I just include it in every contract? Because, I don’t like late charges.
Some states regulate a maximum amount that can be charged for a late fee. Late fees are not governed by usury laws. Usury laws pertain to how much interest one can charge on a loan. If you charge more than the law permits then the interest rate is usurious. Common thinking is that more than 24% per year is usurious, but that’s not entirely correct. Some states have different rate, some no rate – no usury law – and states will usually have different rates for different class of borrowers, residential or commercial. Credit card companies and banks have their own usury rates. It’s complicated.
The Standard Form Agreements do provide for interest once there is a failure to pay a charge timely; the rate is 24% [that’s New York’s highest rate]. Interest on default is not the same as interest on a loan; the law permits the interest rate to go as high as the legal limit.
Late charges are something else. A late charge, always applicable after a failure to make a timely payment, is essentially a penalty for the late payment. If your state has a statutory late payment rate you can use that. If it doesn’t, the late charge needs to be reasonable. There is a difference between an enforceable late charge and an unenforceable late charge, obviously. That difference is when the late charge is excessive it becomes an unenforceable penalty.
I know this is too much information. I don’t include a late fee because if a subscriber defaults under a Standard Form Agreement you have the option of accelerating the entire contract and collecting 80% of the balance of payments. Interest runs at 24% per annum and the alarm company can opt to sell any alarm equipment it owns to the subscriber for the agreed price. I think that’s enough to deal with without throwing in $10 a month for a late fee.
I know some alarm companies have the late fee and automatically charge it, and collect it too. I suppose it can add up with you have enough subscribers.
The late fee is a change we can make after you get the updated contracts, or let us know before we prepare the contracts for you. Generally, there is no additional charge for this change if we make it when we first draft your contract. But we may have to charge to find out if your state permits or limits the late charge.
*******************
Central station 2020 webinars
************************
Not all central stations listed on The Alarm Exchange have opted to participate in our webinar series, "Why you should be using our central station" and I've been wondering why. Only answer I can come up with is, apparently, they don't think you should be using their central station. Go figure.
Our central station's webinars begin soon. Register now.
Central stations will have the opportunity to tell you what services they offer, to what extent the services are unique or specialized and, with some pressing, what you can expect to pay. The webinars are starting July 13 and the central stations are lining up to participate.
The webinars offer an excellent opportunity to interact with your central station, scope out another central station, and consider whether you want to move accounts or open new accounts with a particular central station. Am I encouraging central station hopping? No, but I am encouraging you to use central stations listed on The Alarm Exchange. Why, for you, not me. You get the added protection of knowing that the listed central stations are expected to deal with dealer issues and cooperate with a goal of resolving disputes. Those that fail to co-operate risk having their post removed from The Alarm Exchange. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but check out The Alarm Exchange central station category. Every major reputable central station is participating. If your central station isn’t, move to one that is. If you don’t, don’t bother complaining to me about problems you have with the central station; I have no relationship with that central station and won’t be able to make a call to resolve your issue.
So make some time to attend the webinars, by video or on your phone. They will all be recorded and you will be able to view or hear them by visiting the K&K website and navigating to the alarm webinars: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars
**********************
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.
***********************
NOTICE: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles
***********************
THE ALARM EXCHANGE
This area is reserved for alarm classifieds, alarm company announcements, solicitations, offers, etc.
There is no charge to post a listing here.Include your contact information, phone, email and web site. If you would like to submit a post, please send an email to ken@kirschenbaumesq.com. To create a reciprocal link to our website, click here.
************************************************
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
|
