In the village of Stamford, Connecticut, the town is threatening to sue a car dealership, Carriage House in order to get it to pay $7,450 in fines for forty five false burglar alarms over six years. There was a total of thirty one property owners that got notices on January the fifteenth that were demanding 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 a tough stance on collecting debt. Out of the thirty one people that received a notice, thirteen have resolved their cases.

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 a collection agency, or charge interest on unpaid fines, which might be why they are having trouble cutting down on the problem with false alarms. The owner of the car dealership fingered 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 plans to schedule a March hearing before the appeals board in order to fight the fines. Claiming that it was the fault of the alarm company, he stated that he is trying to get the alarm company to pay for the debt. However, 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 McGuinness is employed by a debt collection agency. She also does articles on business and finance, the credit industry, and debt collection.