Indiana-based security company to pay $300K-plus for violations in Sedgwick County

An Indiana-based security services business has agreed to pay $303,197 for performing hundreds of installations in Sedgwick County without being properly certified, according to court documents filed in August.

DEFENDERS, which was doing business under Protect Your Home, denied the violations but agreed to pay the fines, which includes $197 in court costs, $40,000 in investigative fees to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office and $263,000 to the county general fund, documents shows.

Court documents say that 555 customer installations occurred in Sedgwick County while “DEFENDERS and/or DEFENDERS’ employees lacked proper certification and licensure.” They were not properly licensed between 2017 and 2019, the documents say.

The DA’s office started to investigate DEFENDERS after a disabled Wichita man filed a complaint in February 2020. The man said security devices were not installed on all of his windows and the ones where alarms were installed fell off in six months, court records say. Additionally, he said he was not provided smoke alarms or key fobs.

When he called DEFENDERS, he was told he would need to sign another contract if he wanted the additional equipment, records show.

DEFENDERS agreed to end the man’s contract and refund him $81 for the key fobs after being contacted by the DA’s office, records show.

The DA’s office found issues with DEFENDERS in Sedgwick County dating back as far as late 2017 to early 2018.

As part of the consent judgment, DEFENDERS agreed to several changes in Sedgwick County, including proper licenses and certifications going forward, background checks on employees, notifying “all impacted Sedgwick County consumers” and offering one free month of service to any “qualifying consumers,” the document says.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 5:07 PM.