Should I sue a home security company for breach of contract or should I wait for them to take me to collections court and then explain my case to the judge?
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Should I sue a home security company for breach of contract or should I wait for them to take me to collections court and then explain my case to the judge?
I signed a contract with a home security company. When my home alarm went off they called their security company and they wouldn’t come out to my house because I live to far away. They then called the police who wouldn’t come out to my house because I have a security system installed. I have called and tried to resolve my problem with the company but only get the run around. Therefore, I stopped paying. I have now been sent to collections on a contract I believe I should no longer be bound to because they are not fulfilling their end of the contract.
Asked on August 12, 2011 Utah
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
When a material (major) breach of contract has occurred, you can sue immediately for breach of contract without tendering your performance (making further payments in this case). Since the security company refused to come to your house because they claim you live too far away, this is a material breach of the contract because it defeats the purpose of the contract for having the security system.
It would be advisable to sue the company for breach of contract. If you haven't filed your lawsuit before the company files its lawsuit regarding collections and serves you with the lawsuit, you will need to file an answer to the collections lawsuit and a cross-complaint for breach of contract. The cross-complaint is your countersuit for breach of contract. You will need to file an answer to their complaint (lawsuit) anyway whenever it is filed. It would NOT be advisable to go to court and just explain your position to the judge because the judge will be looking at what you and the security company/collections agency have filed. If you haven't filed anything in response to the collections agency/security company's court-filed documents, the judge will only have their documents to consider and your verbal explanation will probably receive little consideration by the judge.
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