A Florida company has announced that Vivint Inc. will pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the Provo-based home security company of using deceptive sales practices to poach customers.
ADT, a competitor that also sells residential alarm systems door-to-door, announced the settlement Thursday.
The Boca Raton-based business filed suit last April in U.S. District Court in Palm Beach, Fla., accusing Vivint sales agents of misleading customers into believing they were affiliated with ADT. The lawsuit alleged the agents would gain access to homes and install new Vivint equipment in the guise of an upgrade, then sign ADT’s customers to new contracts with Vivint.
ADT received complaints from nearly 1,000 of its customers about Vivint agents making false or misleading statements, ADT said in a news release.
Vivint denied the allegations and the case went to trial. According to the court docket, ADT and Vivint announced on Dec. 13, the second day of trial, that they had settled the case.
An entry in the court docket says Vivint was required to satisfy its payment obligation by Jan. 5.
Vivint representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Last year, in a separate lawsuit, ADT reached a $3 million settlement with a North Salt Lake businessman and his companies based on similar allegations. Adam Schanz and his business, Alder Holdings LLC, were accused in the suit of luring away customers by getting them to accept phony “upgrades” to their existing systems.
