People working for out-of-state companies that sell home security systems have been surfacing in Bowling Green, and police warn of the potential for scams by unlicensed salesmen.

Officer Barry Pruitt, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department, said the police department has in the past received complaints from residents who report answering their door to find a merchant claiming to represent a security company and attempting to persuade them to sign a contract for an alarm system.

Installation of the system is often free, or else a nominal fee is charged, but the contracts residents sign bind them to up to five years of monthly payments on the system.

“With something like this, you need to check your references,” Pruitt said. “Don’t succumb to high-pressure sales techniques or scare tactics where they might say there’s been a bunch of burglaries on the street when that’s actually not true.”

City administrators established a process several years ago whereby companies based out of state that specifically sell burglar or fire alarms can apply for what’s known as a transient peddlers license.

The regulatory measure has helped law enforcement gain more information about the people who contract with a company to travel door-to-door.

“We dealt with a company last week that had not registered with the city,” Pruitt said. “When we stopped to talk with them, one of the (representatives) was wanted in Florida and another was on probation in Tennessee.”

David Lyne, city occupational license manager, said the application process entails completing paperwork with the city and having each of the company’s representatives undergo a criminal background check through the BGPD.

The city receives a fee from the applicant that is calculated based on the number of people the company will have doing business in the city and the length of their stay.

“We do not issue the transient permit unless they have shown proof of completing that application,” Lyne said.

This week, APX Alarm Security Solutions, a Utah company specializing in home security systems, began the application process for a transient permit, but Lyne said he has not heard from representatives after referring them to city police for a background check.

The Better Business Bureau gives APX a B rating on a scale that has A+ as the highest grade and F as the lowest.

Linda Chambers, manager of the local Better Business Bureau office, said the company was the subject of many complaints in recent years from residents who reported that representatives used high-pressure or dishonest sales tactics.

Nationwide, the BBB processed 1,645 complaints about APX in the past 36 months – more than half of the complaints regarded contract issues or sales practices, though Chambers said the company has improved the way it has done business in that time.

Alex Dunn, chief operations officer for APX, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Chambers advised people to compare a door-to-door merchant’s prices with local companies’. Never pay cash up front to a transient peddler, she said, and do not let them into the house.

“When someone comes up to your door to sell you something, make sure they have their (city) license, try to get some information in writing and never sign a contract that is not fully spelled out,” Chambers said.

Steve Morrison, owner of Pro Security and Fire Systems in Bowling Green, said his employees are subject to the same criminal background checks as transient license applicants, but he also has his employees submit to drug testing.

Morrison said his company has replaced a lot of alarm systems installed by transient merchants in recent years and has learned that those customers paid much more on their contracts than they would have likely paid through local security companies.

“What amazes me is you have people that have been here in this business for years and yet (homeowners) will give into the pressure and pay twice as much to put in an alarm system,” Morrison said.

Listening to a sales pitch from a traveling salesman is one thing, but Morrison urged people to compare that company’s rates to others before making a decision.