February 20, 2010
Town Demands Car Dealership Pay Up Or Ship Out
In the town of Stamford, Connecticut, the village is threatening to sue a car dealership, Carriage House so it can get it to pay $7,450 in fines for forty five false burglar alarms over the past six years. There was a grand total of thirty one property owners that got notices on January the fifteenth that were ordering payment for false alarm fines. They were told to pay the money within thirty days or face legal action.
The town is owed $74,375 in fines and this is the first time it has taken such a firm stance on collecting debt. Out of the thirty one people that got a notice, thirteen have resolved their debts.
Residences and businesses are allowed to have one false alarm a year without being penalized with a fine starting at fifty dollars for a second false alarm, one hundred for the third, one hundred and fifty for the fourth and two hundred dollars for each false alarm after.
The town does not use the help of a third party collection agency, or charge interest on unpaid fines, which may the reason why the town is having issues collecting on the false alarms. The owner of the car dealership, Carriage House Motor Cars, blamed a faulty alarm system as the source of the problem and alleged that he would get to the bottom of the problem within a week, but this hasn\’t happened.
The owner is planning to schedule a March hearing before the appeals board in order to fight the fines. Alleging that it was the fault of the alarm company, he said that he is trying to get the alarm company to pay off the debt. But he was not able to identify the alarm company, stating that it had changed ownership so he was not clear on the name.
In all fairness, the town discounts false alarms that have happened that might have been the fault of the alarm company. But for now, Carriage House remains in arrears.
Mallory Megan works for a debt collection company. She also does stories on business, finance, the credit industry, and debt collection.
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