CATV Help

Started by RyanF1 • 8 replies • 1623 views

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RyanF1 (California)
Posts: 4

Posted:

We are a small community that is being forced to pay for inferior CATV through the HOA who owns the CATV system. Many residenst want to opt out so they can buy satellite service, but the HOA will not allow this.

Any advice ?

Thanks in advance.

hoatalk (California)
Posts: 603

Posted:

Search this forum for satellite and you will see many good posts. The bottom line: You can put up a satellite dish as long as you don't attach to common areas (e.g. the roof or outer wall of a condo, etc.). As long as you attach it to your property, you should be OK. There are Federal laws that control this and no HOA rule can overturn Federal law. Just know the law and its limits. Use the Search box on the upper right of the forum.

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JamesC (Maryland)
Posts: 282

Posted:

Ryan:

HOAtalk is 100% correct.
Your HOA cannot prohibit anyone from installing a satellite dish on their own home.
Short solution would be to contact either the FCC or Directv and tell them of the situation. Directv wants the business and will see to it that anyone who wants the service will get it. Installed free.
By the way: Satellite is the way to go. Much cheaper then cable. Every channel is digital and unlike cable (where you pay extra) the digital channels are free. Folks who have cable that come into our home and sees the picture on our TV's are amazed at the difference in clearity.
We converted over from cable nine years ago and would never consider going back.

Jim

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Ryan:

Great advice here, HOA cannot stop you from getting satelitte, they can only control (within reason) the location of the dish. It is a federal law and I would suggest your HOA gets up to speed on it.

DianaS (Texas)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Go out the website FCC.gov. It has what the federal guidelines are and even has it in a question and answer format. This law has been in effect since 1996. We recently changed management companies and they sent letters to everyone that had a dish saying it was not in compliance. After sending them the FCC document, they admitted the HOA could have been sued. If you are unable to locate it, email me at [email protected] and I will send you a copy.

Also it would appear that there is a conflict of interest regarding the way access is being handled.

RyanF1 (California)
Posts: 4

Posted:

Could everyone who replied, please go back and re-read my post.If I was unclear, I apologize, what I am really interested in knowing is can our HOA force us to pay for the CATV system they operate ?

Our HOA built a CATV system as part of a gung-ho committee effort and now it is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain, only to offer fewer choices and poor quality than any of the satellite providers.

Many members have indeed subscribed to satellite, but that does not absolve them from having to pay for our "socialized TV".

Any help is greatly appreciated.

JoeS4 (Kentucky)
Posts: 77

Posted:

our H.O.A. says no dishes, does that need to be updated?

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Posted By JoeS4 on 11/08/2006 7:10 PM
our H.O.A. says no dishes, does that need to be updated?

No, but it would be a good idea to do so the next time you have another need to amend your Declaration. Meanwhile, don't try to enforce an obsolete restriction.

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

ryan, a lawyer should read your bylaws and covenents, but from the words you used, i would say no.

Rarely, if ever, can a committee make a decision on their own that would force all owners to pay. It is possible that a board could, but not a committee. It is also rare that a board could manage to properly and legally thread the process correctly to obligate all owners to a new fee for something like cable TV, without missing some crucial step that could nullify the entire legality. I would bet there is a loophole in the process they used you could drive a widescreen TV through.

You should read your bylaws and covenents, to see what the board and committee can legally do, and then make sure they did exactly that, in exactly that manner, when they did this.

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