My HOA is fining me $100 / day b/c of my DISH! HELP!!!

[charper1]

DirecTV, the actual company came out? Or was it a contract installer you are talking about? Unfortunately at this point it really sounds like they may just be giving you a hard way to go, because of what you failed to comply with up front and how you seemed to communicate with them in the beginning and they know for a fact they are correct in this particular situation and now refuse to work with you at this point - just an opinion.. Time to call a lawyer and stop bickering back & forth.

 

[lou_do]

The bottom line is: If you are in compliance with the legal parts of your covenants, and the covenants have conflicting information, going against the OTARD guidelines. All you have to do is contact the FCC, as they tell you do in their OTARD instructions. But, like it has been stated before make sure you are in 100% compliance with the legal parts of the covenants, before you contact them.

I find it hard to believe that after all this, the board has not had their attorney look into your claims of the covenants being illegal.

 

[psnarula]

an update:

i spoke to amrit about this last night to get some more details. there was a "hearing" two weeks ago where amrit presented the letter from a directv installer on directv letterhead and the board now accepts the fact that there is only one place on his lot to place the satellite dish (i had previously not understood this to be the case) -- on ground level in the corner of his lot where it is visible from the adjacent street.

the board subsequently (and i think illegally) demanded that he place seven foot shrubs around the dish to cover it from view. he was given one week to comply.

after the hearing, amrit sent email to the HOA property manager (who has acted as a middle man between amrit and the architectual committee through this whole process) to ask about what kind of shrub would be acceptable. "dan" took five days to reply. when he finally did reply, dan told told amrit that he had two days to put up the shrubs before fines would start. amrit went to home depot, lowes, and several nurseries in the area and discovered that it is impossible to purchase a seven foot shrub. so he bought two seven foot trees instead. the hoa deems this unacceptable and so on tuesday last week dan started fining him $100 per day. amrit took the dish down on wednesday. he was out of town over the weekend to go watch the davis cup in winston-salem but when i spoke to him last night he was going to ask for another hearing with the board and he was going to request that the HOA's legal council be present at the meeting. amrit wants to present the OTARD regulations to the attorney at which point he thinks the attorney will advise the board that its shrubery requirements are illegal.

thoughts?

 

[jdspencer]

Doesn't OTARD state something about extra expense?

Would a dish hidden under a fake rock be acceptable?

 

[charper1]

an update:

i spoke to amrit about this last night to get some more details. there was a "hearing" two weeks ago where amrit presented the letter from a directv installer on directv letterhead and the board now accepts the fact that there is only one place on his lot to place the satellite dish (i had previously not understood this to be the case) -- on ground level in the corner of his lot where it is visible from the adjacent street.

the board subsequently (and i think illegally) demanded that he place seven foot shrubs around the dish to cover it from view. he was given one week to comply.

after the hearing, amrit sent email to the HOA property manager (who has acted as a middle man between amrit and the architectual committee through this whole process) to ask about what kind of shrub would be acceptable. "dan" took five days to reply. when he finally did reply, dan told told amrit that he had two days to put up the shrubs before fines would start. amrit went to home depot, lowes, and several nurseries in the area and discovered that it is impossible to purchase a seven foot shrub. so he bought two seven foot trees instead. the hoa deems this unacceptable and so on tuesday last week dan started fining him $100 per day. amrit took the dish down on wednesday. he was out of town over the weekend to go watch the davis cup in winston-salem but when i spoke to him last night he was going to ask for another hearing with the board and he was going to request that the HOA's legal council be present at the meeting. amrit wants to present the OTARD regulations to the attorney at which point he thinks the attorney will advise the board that its shrubery requirements are illegal.

thoughts?

He needs and should have from the beginning IMHO, attended these meetings face to face, and not communicate via emails or via an intermediary; if anything use a telephone. This has certainly stretched the issue time-wise and helped exacerbate the overall problem that started out very simple and easy to remedy.

 

[Happy Camper]

Help. Help! What the HOA is doing is illegal, whether they try to subvert the FCC rules directly or indirectly. The HOA cannot tell him he can't have his dish, nor can they impose unreasonable retrictions to legal placement of the dish, and seven foot shrubs wold seem to be just that. Anything the HOA does or tries to do which results in substantial expense or which is unreasonable to an ordinary person violates the FCC rules.

There are two ways to solve everything. The first is to reach an agreement or settlement. The second is to get into a pisxing contest. If you choose the latter, then go straight to an attorney, complain directly to the FCC and go for the throat, but be prepared to pay heavily for the fight if your attorney is not good enough to recover his fees from the HOA.

There is some part of this we do not know, and that's the tone and progress of the original discussions. Somewhere, I'm betting someone started in being an axxhole and things degenerated from there?

 

[charper1]

There is some part of this we do not know, and that's the tone and progress of the original discussions. Somewhere, I'm betting someone started in being an axxhole and things degenerated from there?

You are 110% correct... There was a posting (I would bet edited for our benefit) of some of the communique between the OP and an intermediary (big problem there) and it all got out of hand time wise and such. He should be on the correct path now thanks to another user it seems.

 

[damaged]

He should be on the correct path now thanks to another user it seems.

If you are referring to psnarula, that would be the OPs brother as well.

 

[charper1]

ah, new info.. was that in the posts, cause I missed it. THX

 

[damaged]

ah, new info.. was that in the posts, cause I missed it. THX

Post #23, page 1.

np

 

[Slick Vic]

who took the dish down?

 

[jpn]

an update:

i spoke to amrit about this last night to get some more details. there was a "hearing" two weeks ago where amrit presented the letter from a directv installer on directv letterhead and the board now accepts the fact that there is only one place on his lot to place the satellite dish (i had previously not understood this to be the case) -- on ground level in the corner of his lot where it is visible from the adjacent street.

the board subsequently (and i think illegally) demanded that he place seven foot shrubs around the dish to cover it from view. he was given one week to comply.

after the hearing, amrit sent email to the HOA property manager (who has acted as a middle man between amrit and the architectual committee through this whole process) to ask about what kind of shrub would be acceptable. "dan" took five days to reply. when he finally did reply, dan told told amrit that he had two days to put up the shrubs before fines would start. amrit went to home depot, lowes, and several nurseries in the area and discovered that it is impossible to purchase a seven foot shrub. so he bought two seven foot trees instead. the hoa deems this unacceptable and so on tuesday last week dan started fining him $100 per day. amrit took the dish down on wednesday. he was out of town over the weekend to go watch the davis cup in winston-salem but when i spoke to him last night he was going to ask for another hearing with the board and he was going to request that the HOA's legal council be present at the meeting. amrit wants to present the OTARD regulations to the attorney at which point he thinks the attorney will advise the board that its shrubery requirements are illegal.

thoughts?

Why give-in to the secondary threat? The HOA was on the run, trying to save-face, and gave conditions that were just as easy to argue as the initial fine.

Demanding 7-foot shrubs? That's laughable. There are plenty of compromises to be had. Arborvitae grow 4 feet per year, are pretty inexpensive, grow almnost anywhere, and provide nice privacy in addition to 'hiding' the dish.

http://www.aboutarborvitae.com/

 

[lance429]

Hello, I just stumbled on this website this afternoon and registered to throw my two cents in on the subject. I hope I'm posting this correctly.

I have not scanned the entire thread so I may be guilty of sending a "me too" post. If so, I'm sorry to waste anyone's time.

In answer to you HOA issues; go to the website antennaweb.org. Click on the FAQ and you should find the federal legal references you need to resolve the issue with the HOA.

We are a DIRECTV and HUGHESNET retailer, installation and service contractor based in Auburn, NY and have been through the same HOA issues here. From what I've seen you will be able to sort this out.

Aside from this issue the antennaweb.org website has a lot of good info.

Good luck!

Lance

 

[bullwinklehdtv]

Anyone without a current HOA or the desire or understanding of what good the majority of them provide. Please send me your address. I have enough time & money to buy the property next to you AND while staying inside city laws and ordinances can prove why you would be begging for an HOA.

Amen. I live in a community without a HOA, you can't believe what it takes to get a city ordinance enforced (even when the city inspectors agree there's a problem). Rats may get some action, but forget about anything like a house thats so full of garbage all the windows are covered with flies.

 

[scotsmanron]

After reading all of this, unless there is something we aren't hearing, the HOA is in a world of hurt. I am the president of my HOA and was an officer in my previous residence. In my previous residence the HOA tried to pull this EXACT same thing. They wanted my dish to come down, even though no one could see it and it had been on the roof over a year. It was hidden by the a firewall of a townhouse and the only way that you could see it was to go looking for it. Yank it down they said.

NO, I said and got a copy of the FCC rules out and told them to screw off. They got the HOA lawyer involved. At that point, as anyone with common sense can do, I pointed out...point by point why they couldn't make me take down my dish.

They tried to pull one more stunt. They tried to have the State of Florida declare the HOA, which was a townhouse group, a condo association. The State Division of Condominiums told their lawyer to get the heck out of his office as she was wasting his time!!!!

That was the end of it. When I moved there were about twenty more D* dishes up that I had recommended. My new HOA has decided that it isn't even worth fighting as the FCC rules are "too much in favor of the consumer". This is a quote from the HOA lawyer.

 

[igator99]

After reading all of this, unless there is something we aren't hearing, the HOA is in a world of hurt. I am the president of my HOA and was an officer in my previous residence. In my previous residence the HOA tried to pull this EXACT same thing. They wanted my dish to come down, even though no one could see it and it had been on the roof over a year. It was hidden by the a firewall of a townhouse and the only way that you could see it was to go looking for it. Yank it down they said.

NO, I said and got a copy of the FCC rules out and told them to screw off. They got the HOA lawyer involved. At that point, as anyone with common sense can do, I pointed out...point by point why they couldn't make me take down my dish.

They tried to pull one more stunt. They tried to have the State of Florida declare the HOA, which was a townhouse group, a condo association. The State Division of Condominiums told their lawyer to get the heck out of his office as she was wasting his time!!!!

That was the end of it. When I moved there were about twenty more D* dishes up that I had recommended. My new HOA has decided that it isn't even worth fighting as the FCC rules are "too much in favor of the consumer". This is a quote from the HOA lawyer.

Why are some people so offended by a small dish? The things are not permanent and easily removed if you move. There are at least six rusted out nasty looking basketball goals down my street. There is one old lady that likes garden gnomes etc... I can see a BUD since they are really not necessary anymore and they are huge. After Katrina I was the only one down my lane with TV for about a month after because Charter here really stinks. Let us enjoy our TV and the little old lady down the street enjoy her gnomes. There is a house a lane over that has a couple of Greek god statues! If you find it an eye sore don't look are perhaps you should thank God that is a big problem in your life and you don't have real problems.

 

[scotsmanron]

BINGO!!! I understand protection of property rights, but the FCC has come down on our side. Lets face it, the "condo Nazis" are those that are unhappy and want to take everyone else down with them.