SDM sat down with David Smail, chief legal officer at ADT, to discuss what deceptive sales practices look like and how to prevent them.

Today, ADT, a provider of monitored security and interactive home and business automation solutions in the United States and Canada, announced it settled a deceptive sales practices lawsuit filed against NorthStar Alarm Services, a Utah-based company, for $3 million.  

ADT, a provider of monitored security and interactive home and business automation solutions in the United States and Canada, today announced that the company was awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages against Alder Holdings LLC, a Utah-based company. 

ADT, SDM's 2017 Dealer of the Year, settled its lawsuit against Vivint Inc. ADT alleged the Utah-based company used deceptive sales practices to mislead ADT customers into signing long-term contracts.

With thousands of consumers victimized by fraudulent door-to-door home security sales every summer, the Better Business Bureau, with the help of ADT and several industry associations, is sounding the alarm about deceptive tactics.

After a two-week trial in Anchorage, Alaska, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska entered a judgment for just under $1.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff, Security Alarm Financing Enterprises LP (SAFE), in its case against defendants, Alder Holdings LLC, Alarm Protection Technology LLC, Alarm Protection Technology Alaska LLC, and Alarm Protection Alaska LLC.
 

A June 25 news conference at ESX held jointly by ADT, ESA, CSAA and others, was a platform for representatives from business and industry organizations and residents to discuss the rising problem of deceptive sales practices.