A Golden Oppertunity, or from Bad to Worse?

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joethedude

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Jun 2, 2004
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When I first moved into my Apartment, I asked about getting a Dish installed on my chimney, and was given the A-OK.
I paid the deposit, purchased renter’s insurance, and had the permission paper signed.

The day before my install, I was greeted with a poorly-written flyer on my door.
It tried to say something to the effect that my Apartment Complex is under New Management.
This turned out to be an accurate guess.

The next day, Dish showed up to do the install, and lo and behold, he could not mount it on my chimney, due to the refusal of the new management.

We went back to the office, this time together, and I showed them my copy of the permission slip.
They said that due to all of the roof damage they have been dealing with for the past few months, they haven’t allowed new dish installs on rooftops since last month.
I asked her how long she has been working here, and she said “Two days“…

She claimed that a Temp must have erroneously signed the paper, not knowing what she was doing.
I asked her “Well, if she was a Temp, why would she have the power to sign my lease and not this paper?”

To that she flatly said that if I wanted a dish, I would have to mount it on a tripod, on my balcony, and that I could not make any holes.
I pointed out that my balcony faces north, and that the wind would send a dish that was not (at the very least) tied down on an exciting, but costly, tour of the cars in the parking lot.
She then flatly stated that I couldn’t have a dish.

This is when the Installer chimed in and asked her why he let her install a dish yesterday on a chimney when their “policy” isn’t have suppose to allow such an install.

She then claimed that she wasn’t there yesterday, and it must have been a temp…….

The installer said he was sorry he couldn’t install my dish, but would waive the fee for coming out today, and told me to call a lawyer.
Then we left the office.

Instead of calling a Lawyer, (this is where my post topic comes in to play), I though I would post here first and ask a question.

You see, later that evening, the manager was outside of my apartment building, cussing out some of the maintenance staff for working for too long, and said she wouldn’t pay them for the extra time.
They just glared at her until she finally walked away.

When I told my wife about this, she said that she saw her doing the same thing yesterday, when I was at work.
My wife had told her to stop cussing because not only did she not want to hear it, she didn’t want our daughter hearing it too.

My idea is to videotape the manager cussing out her employees and making illegal statements about not paying them, and call the cops.

This way I can get her fired, and not pay any lawyer fees.

So the question is, is it legal for me to tape her doing what she did, outside, in a public place, and can she be arrested for doing so?
If so, I can easily call the head office and tell them what she did.
As a bonus, it will be verifiable with the local PD.

I'm a bit strapped for cash because of my recent move, and would rather not dip into my savings account.
If it turns out to be the best course of action, I can do so and move, or hire a lawyer, but I'd rather have the cops deal with her, if not only for my sake, also for the sake of anyone she comes in contact with.
 
First, IANAL, but maybe this would be of interest to show that person: URL is posted a few posts below this.


Here is an excerpt from it:
As directed by Congress in Section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule concerning governmental and nongovernmental restrictions on viewers' ability to receive video programming signals from direct broadcast satellites ("DBS"), multichannel multipoint distribution (wireless cable) providers ("MMDS"), and television broadcast stations ("TVBS").


The rule is cited as 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 and has been in effect since October 14, 1996. It prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive video programming. The rule applies to video antennas including direct-to- home satellite dishes that are less than one meter (39.37") in diameter (or of any size in Alaska), TV antennas, and wireless cable antennas. The rule prohibits most restrictions that: (1) unreasonably delay or prevent installation, maintenance or use; (2) unreasonably increase the cost of installation, maintenance or use; or (3) preclude reception of an acceptable quality signal.


I hope that applies to, and helps you. Good Luck otherwise.

P.S. It is legal for you to videotape her in public.
 
Thank you for the FCC Link!

If she doesn't make a show for me to film tomorrow, I'll take a printout of it up to the office.

;)
 
That law only covers your "exclusive rights area that you rent". This does not mean ALL areas you rent. It does not provide you the rights to general use areas, public use areas, or another renter's area. It also does not provide you with legal access to your chimney or roof. In some cases, even if the dish is on YOUR patio or desk (non-tripod or bucket mounted) and the dish can be seen from the general grounds, they can still legally force you to remove it. Thus the law states that if the installation (even in your exclusive area) does not abide by all safety and hazard laws that you still can,t install. This law is not a "win all no matter what" for renters. You need a professional in your area to assist you in getting all your ducks in a row; it isn't as easy a flashing the FCC paper. Having other installs on the same property is a big help, but only if they are illegal installs and the new MGMT fails to have them removed.
 
charper1 said:
Having other installs on the same property is a big help, but only if they are illegal installs and the new MGMT fails to have them removed.

Guess what.
After I read this, I looked outside.
There is a DirecTV guy up on my neighbor's roof.
If I’m not mistaken one of the office staff lives in it.
He's installing a dish on the roof.

Just about everyone here who has the dish has them mounted on the chimney.
One guy has a dish on an 8 foot pole that is cemented in the ground outside of his front door, in a public area.
I could have sworn that it wasn't there yesterday.

My wife is video-taping the new chimney install, and I'm walking up to the office.
I'm going to play the "Enthusiastic To See Chimney Installs are Now OK" part and see where that gets me.
The wife said something about honey vs vinegar.
I'm going to give it a go.
 
There you go. See if you can get some info from the installer there today! This is the PERFECT thing you need.

Just asking: you haven't had any "run-ins" with anyone that could be directing all this at you?
 
Muah ha ha ha.

^_^

I went in there with a positive attitude.

I started off with a cheerfull "I just saw my neighbor getting the Dish installed on his chimney, and wanted to let you all know that I talked to the installer and set a date for my install. It will be next month."

It was hard not to laugh because the manager blushed and her eyes got really big, and she stammered out "That sounds good to me."

Heh heh. I bet that my neighbor is indeed part of the staff.

Man, this is great!
:cool:
 
charper1 said:
There you go. See if you can get some info from the installer there today! This is the PERFECT thing you need.

Just asking: you haven't had any "run-ins" with anyone that could be directing all this at you?

Yeah, I think it might have to do with my wife telling her not to cuss outside of our apartment the other day.
 
Get out now... If the management doesn't show any respect for its employees or its tenants, get out and find somewhere else to live.
 
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