KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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status of unsigned contract / no fire alarm contract with new owner
June 29, 2019
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status of unsigned contract
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Ken
    What is the status of a contract sent out to a client, signed by myself, but not returned. Receipt is confirmed because the contract would have been sent with a monitoring invoice which was eventually paid.
Regards,
Dick
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Response
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    You signed and sent a contract to the subscriber. It was never returned. You started monitoring [which means you also installed the system or at least programmed it and activated it].  You sent an invoice and it was paid. You conclude that the contract was therefore received by the subscriber.
I hope you can see the flaw in your conclusion. What the subscriber undoubtedly received was the invoice, but there is no evidence the contract was received. Even if the contract was received, you are placing yourself in a very difficult position.
    Imagine a horrendous loss followed by a massive lawsuit. Naturally you would want to rely on your alarm contract, especially if its a Standard Form All in One, because your insurance carrier will certainly want to rely on it [unless they are actually what I often accuse them of being]. Trouble is you don't have a signed contract. You will have to first argue that the subscriber received and agreed to the contract by virtue of accepting the services and paying invoices. It's a leap. Unless your invoice references the contract date, which it probably doesn't, you can lose that argument, in which event you lose the contract protection.
    No signed contract means no contract. No contract means you're up shits creek with only your hands to paddle.
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no fire alarm contract with new owner
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Ken
    I have a customer that had sold his 4 buildings about 7 months ago and I don’t know who is the new owner of the 4 properties, all I know is that I’m dealing with the manager who isn’t paying the central station fees that are approximately $4000. We sent various letters and messages, but we never heard back. For a few days now, our fire alarm systems stopped communication with our central station. So I went to the sites to investigate and I still saw my company certificate and central station certificate on the wall with my business information. And according to the super, the managing company had hired another alarm company to take over the monitoring services. The issue that I’m having is that it is my design, my system, my certification on the wall, and my insurance covering the building. Furthermore, they are in breach of their contract. Fire prevention has been notified but they aren’t doing anything about it. What do you think I should do? 
Best regards,
Abel
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Response
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    You have no contract with the new owner. You should not be providing any services; none. I am not sure what you notified the fire department of, but you need to notify the AHJ that you have terminated all services. Sounds like owner has a new fire alarm company already, which means they were able to take over the system without you providing any codes.
    Your remedy is against the old owner who signed your contract if the term has not yet expired. If you leased the system to the old owner then you can demand your equipment back and sue the new owner if it doesn't allow you to remove it. If you didn't use the Commercial Lease All in One then you didn't lease the equipment. 
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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