Cable Company

Started by LaverneB • 22 replies • 1545 views

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LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

Our community includes the cable with the maintance fees. Question, they went and changed companys because it was cheaper( so they say) but never took a vote from the homeowners. Is this leagal? Should not the home owners have a say in this? It was just done.

hoatalk (California)
Posts: 603

Posted:

Just to clarify, your other post says you are the President and this post says "they" changed the cable company. Would you please clarify your role and the association structure?

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LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

The Board memebers that held office at the time. They decided.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Laverne,

You are currently the President, if I remember right?

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

LaverneB - You stated it was just done.

LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

Yes I am the president now, at the time I was not on Board.The people who voted to go with the cable co. was the board. It was never brought to the people(homeowners)Homeowners was not told about the switch until after cable deal was all sealed and approved by the board. Any clearer now?My thinking is it should have since it is the homeowners money.

LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Laverne,

I have 3 Florida properties, all of which provide cable service to the residences. All 3 of them have the BOD, negotiate the cable contract without resident input. That is what the Board should do, run the daily operations of the community. What input could you get from the membership that would make a difference in the contract talks?

Once you are invloved in a negotiation with the Cable companies, you would wish that someone else would have the pleasure next time. Because they have little to no competition, they can play hardball and basically, the HOA is helpless.

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

LaverneB - Negotiating with the cable company is worse than doing so with public service. The consumer is a captive audience. If the only thing that changed in the service was a reduced price, I can't see why resident input is necessary. If as new President your fear is the informality of the previous Board vote than re-ratify their decision in a duly held and noticed open meeting with the residents.

LaverneB (Florida)
Posts: 129

Posted:

Yes it was cheaper. But alot of station were dropped, and if it was researched they could have seen all the law suits againist the cable company. It is not the same service but we have t olive with it now for 5 years. I have been dealing with the public for over 30 years, and I kow what you mean.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Laverne,

This is a perfect example of how our government has lost grip with the people . There is no cable competition therefore we are basically stuck with what they hand out to us. .They drop stations and add stations at their own will and I was told that it was done according to "statistics" Nobody asked my opinion on that.

My Villa (rental prop) association has negotiated a 3 year contract with the cable company, with the chance that the A.T&-- company will have their system ready by then. If not, then we renegotiate and hope for the best.

We looked into a Fiber Optic and a satelite systems but the initial outlay of money was high for an association of 230 senior members. So we will wait and hope that other options come.

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

LaverneB - The former Board made an unwise decision, cost isn't everything. If you have to live with it for 5 years, that's unfortunate. Is there a chance the stations can be added by the existing service for a fee, any negotiating ability there?

PaulM (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1,347

Posted:

LaverneB: I do not understand why the Board was able to decide for the residents what cable company to contract with without resident vote and now each resident must assume payment. Based on other postings concerning your association's government, many things remain unclear on how your assn. operates.

If this is a situation where the township has determined the cable company for the local area, then it is understandable. However, have you looked into what other service is available for your area? Have you spoken to the Manager of the new cable company to request a type of reduction since they are servicing a community association with many residents? Have you requested how to get out of the 5 yr. contract? Normally, when one signs a contract with a phone company or for cable service, if you want to terminate it earlier, there is a termination fee, but termination can take place. It will state on the contract (back side) how to do it.

If they know you are displeased with the service, dissatisfied with the minimum stations as compared to your other service, and even questioning their credibility due to the 'law suits' placed against them, they may offer to "sweeten the pot" and entice your assn. to stay with them. Worth a try.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Paul,
Just as you said, a local government has the commissioners vote on what the Cable provider will be, just as a Board votes and signs the cable contract. The cable cost comes out of the assessments or dues so there is no direct cost to the members. I sat in on our latest contract talks with our provider. We negotiated a $34.00 per household where the basic service for individual homes is $42.00 and up so it was the lesser of the evils.

And I don't know how many cable companys you have but down here in Florida, we have basically one--Comcast and that's our choice. Hopefully, we will have more choices in the future. Another thing that was a huge difference in other non cable providers is that the entire community is already cabled and Comcast owns those cables and they don't share them.

ShawnaF (Colorado)
Posts: 84

Posted:

I believe what the Board did was fine - that's negotiating and managing a contract for a service you offer. Now I'm just wondering about the OTARD regulations and how it would have potential to disrupt your HOA. I'm thinking you still have the ability to change and negotiate the contract on behalf of the HOA and provide that service, BUT if a resident is dissatified with the new service and/or just wanted to install their own service (using satellite, antennae, or new cabling) you would be required to allow them to do so - which would be at their expense and separate from what you do as a BOD and HOA.

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

PaulM - I'm all for communication, and think if anything the Board may have erred in not providing the residents an understanding of the reasoning behind their judgment to go with the new cable service provider. Bottom line though, I'd be very annoyed if the Board spent more money on postage, notice, etc. to hold a vote on such the very basic matter of going with a new cable provider at a reduced cost, of which the owners are already paying. If it were me, I'd notice the community with an agenda for: A discussion with owners on switching to a new cable service provider. Make a presentation of the pros/cons, where the saved money is going to be spent, open the topic for discussion to solicit input, and recommendations. At that point I'd take a Board vote and be done with the matter.

SharonM3 (Virginia)
Posts: 23

Posted:

See the article "FL: Residents Take Case to FCC" posted under the HOA Daily News on 2/7/08.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Hi Shawna-Thelma,

You are correct, our residents have options with the cable company for upgrades, internet and all of the options that Comcast offers. Their $34.00 fee that the association allows is just deducted from their choice of upgrades. If they don't like that, then they can go to satelite or whatever they want but at their expense.

As I said, we have a choice of one-(1) cable company so we deal with that the best that we can. Because we are 230 homes, we get a group or bulk rate which is better than one can do alone.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

It made sense I suppose when cable first came on the scene for municipalities to enter into exclusive deals with cable providers. They not the municipalities built the infrastructure to be able to hook everyone in a particular area up; just as the Ma Bell did with the telephone. Back then Bell was the largest but some areas had other companies. Then came the upstarts like MCI and Bell had to share the infrastructure they built. IMO that day is coming soon for the cable providers where they will have to share the lines with smaller more competitive companies. I think this process has already begun with the FCC rules on cable dishes and last October the FCC voted to prohibit large cable companies from entering into exclusive contracts to serve apartments and other residential developments. The ruling also voided existing contracts.

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ShawnaF (Colorado)
Posts: 84

Posted:

Very cool Donna-Louise! I want my HOA to pay my cable so I'm completely jealous! lol...heck, there's a lot I'd like! I'll just settle for less and enjoy my views out my windows.

Just a heads up & reminder to anyone thinking about the cable/satellite/antenna stuff - OTARD is a huge deal and you can't impact their ability to get service if it doesn't involve common property.

MagdaS (Florida)
Posts: 32

Posted:

LaverneB, you are lucky the contract is only for 5 years.
Our HOA put us in the whole for 15!!!!
God only knows what will happen between now and 2018 when our contract runs out and if cable even exists by then.

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

MagdaS - Still have power there in Florida, all over the news that there's a massive outage today.

ZurielC (Florida)
Posts: 7

Posted:

All,

Some of you might have read that the FCC is now banning long term contracts with cable tv providers. I have now started a website to support the FCC. I live in Live Oak Preserve where we the Board have tried every way to get out of a unethical contract left behind by the builder and his brother who owns the cable (PCO) company. For those of you are on the same boat is we are in please visit www.banbulkbilling.com to express your concerns and support the FCC. There you will also find details on petition instruction to fill a comment with the FCC.

Has any one here been able to get out of their long term cable contracts?

Regards,
ZC

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