Apartment install

[Titan_Wireless]

Guys,

I have a customer that wants an install at his apartment. He lives on the 3rd floor and has clear site to the south. His apartment manager told him that he needed insurence if he installs it on his balcony? Have you ever heard of this? Can they force him? Balcony installs are allowed I thought. What do you suggest.

Thanks,
Tasos..

 

[Dish Dude]

do the job, have him sign off that he allowed the installation. If no penetrations are made, they cannot have you do anything, it is between the customer and the property

 

[boba]

Yes the apartment can set regulations for safety like having insurance in case the dish falls off the balcony. I would bet the apartment complex is profiting from the sale of cable service so make it as restrictive as legally possible.

 

[Titan_Wireless]

Thanks for your input.

 

[Dish Dude]

so don't put it on the railing, if it does not go outside into a common area, they cannot legally make their own regulations

 

[Liquidforce88]

Oh yes they can. They can and do require Liability insurance in alot of MDU's now. It is a way to stop the install, cause most people won't get the insurance.

 

[Dish Dude]

funny the FCC seems to think differently

 

[Liquidforce88]

You and I know about it. The thing is most people don't want to fight with the management of the apartments. They will just get the cable offered.

 

[Dish Dude]

i know but this issue is getting quite testy as the cable companies are actually getting smarter and are doing a lot more of these exclusives with property mgt owners

 

[ZandarKoad]

Or they're just pissing off management... by offering to install the cabling for free, then locking it all up for their exclusive use. When guys like E* or D* come along... we are forced to run all new wires all over their brand new uppity yuppity siding.

But you're right, it's a sound business move.

 

[Van]

The FCC's guidelines are only specific to the mounting location of the dish and to state that no one can be refused satellite television. However the property owner/manager can have additional requirements for the installation of satellite, cable television, additional telco service, off the air antenna's, really any kind of communication service at all that was not installed during the construction of the structure. Personally I think its a great idea for any renter to have renters insurance to protect them wether they have sat tv or not.

 

[BobaBird]

From http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html, "The rule prohibits most restrictions that: ... (2) unreasonably increase the cost of installation, maintenance or use;"

Things that may make insurance unreasonable are the actual cost and whether it is required for other things such as a window AC unit or patio furniture.

 

[Dish Dude]

So in other words these cust. who get insurance are being assessed an unreasonable cost

 

[rowemance]

I hate to break it to you but the landlord can require liability insurance to be carried if your Dish is on your balcony. I just went through this with one of my customers and I told the customer to call the FCC and complain and the FCC said at this time they can not stop this condition. In my customers case the landlord wanted a 2 million dollar renters insurance policy (almost impossible to find) that would cost over $800.00 a year that was over double of his yearly satellite bill. The FCC stated that they are reviewing this practice but for now this is legal. So I would have your customer call the FCC at the number on the satellite bill which you can find on the SBCA's website and complain. In my view $800.00 is an unreasonable cost.

 

[MikeCTM2]

yeah i just signed my lease for my new apartment and they told me i'd have to have renter's insurance if i had a satellite dish. They showed me a plan from a different company that cost $18/mo for the cheapest plan.

Any California apartment renters w/ ins have or know of a cheaper plan?

 

[lakebum431]

You should have renters insurance no matter what. It is stupid not to. It is very cheap and can save a lot of heart ache in the long run.

 

[miguelaqui]

I had to have renter's insurance to have a dish. ...well, I had a DTV triple and a D500 for Expressvu.

I even had the DNSC do a must carry! I just had to provide the clamps.

 

[bsilvertab]

I am also having problems convincing the manager of the complex to let me install my satellite. (I have not signed the lease yet) He said that I could install it on my padio, but I am 90% sure that it will not work correctly. There is a scrubby large pine tree that I could easily install it in front of that would solve the issue. This would be out of the way and fairly isolated. The tree is about 30 from wall where the TV is located. Between the wall and the TV is a 1.5 ft walkway that I would have to run the cable under. I don't see how this is a large problem. I talked with the manager yesterday about this but I wanted to install a dish, omni tv, and wimax antenna on the same post by the tree... I think i might have went to far. I am going to propose that I just put the dish in front of the tree. During our converstation he was worried about breaking the rules and the lawn people cutting the cable, ect... Am I protected by the FCC rule? I am the installer for the system so I know it will look fine. Anyone have any advise for me and my sad situation? I really don't want to pay the termination fee plus have to deal with chargebacks at the retailer I work for.

PS- The reason I am going though all of this is because the complex has a private cable system that is junk. If they offered cable through Comcast like the rest of the city I would not be having this problem.

 

[bsilvertab]

Will dish let you out of a contract if you have no LOS when moving to a new location?

 

[korsjs]

Will dish let you out of a contract if you have no LOS when moving to a new location?

wishful thinking, but no.