Utah Security Company Settles for $1,000,000 and Five Years of State Supervision

CHICAGO – State regulators announced today they have reached a long-term settlement agreement with Pinnacle Security, LLC, headquartered in Orem, Utah and licensed to sell home and business security systems in Illinois.  The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) alleged in its order that Pinnacle had sold its services using unfair and deceptive trade practices, knowingly hired unlicensed sales personnel, and allowed employees with criminal histories to sell their products door-to-door to Illinois consumers.  The company also ‘slammed’ consumers by changing their alarm service using fraudulent and deceptive means.

“When homeowners purchase security systems to protect their families from crimes, they should at least be assured that the company with which they do business is following Illinois laws,” said Jay Stewart, Director, Division of Professional Regulation, IDFPR.  “With this settlement agreement, families doing business with Pinnacle Security, LLC will know that Illinois’ consumer protection agency is making sure they meet their obligations.”

The investigation conducted by IDPFR included issuing subpoenas for all employees working in Illinois and found that 700 of the 1,100 were not licensed by the state.  Further, several of the employees listed on the employee roster had been charged with or convicted of felonies, including larceny, robbery, theft, conspiracy to commit burglary, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, assault, domestic battery, and possession of controlled substances, any of which would have been cause to deny a license, had an application been filed.

The case was referred to IDFPR by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, after her office settled a lawsuit to protect prospective customers.   Today’s settlement includes payment of a one million dollar fine, of which $250,000 has already been paid, a two-year ban on new sales to Illinois consumers, supervision of Pinnacle’s ongoing business of overseeing already installed security systems and five years of supervised probation by the Illinois.

Click here to view a copy of the IDFPR agreement.
Click here to view a copy of the Attorney General's agreement.