OK guys, I actually consulted a lawyer. A friend of mine's brother is a lawyer. His firm does not handle cases like this, but he assured me that he would be able to advise me of my rights in this situation. I told him where to find the OTARD ruling online so that he could review it. After he read it, he called me and I told him about the whole situation. I told him I've had a dish for 14 years, well before the ruling came into effect. How the HOA has never enforced the rules until now. I told him about all the fees and expenses I was going to incur, etc. In not so many words, he told me I was screwed. There is really nothing I can do. Technically, I'm breaking the law, so to speak. The HOA has every right to tell me to remove the dish because of where it is located. I again mentioned the fact that a dish has been there all this time, with the ruling in effect, and they have said nothing until now. He said it was like speed laws. You travel a certain highway everyday for years. You drive 15 miles over the speed limit all the time. You see cops on numerous occasions and they do nothing. Until one day, a cop pulls you over and gives you a ticket. Do you think that you can go to court and tell the judge that you speed everyday and no one has ever pulled you over before so you shouldn't get a ticket now because they never enforced the rules before? Do you think they will drop the ticket? Uh, no. He said the OTARD clearly states where the consumer is protected. I am not protected under the OTARD ruling. I'm in violation, and the HOA is acting on it. They have every right to do so, even if it took them years to get to it. He did suggest I send them a copy of all the expenses I will incur and see if they do anything about. He also suggested that I get the other people affected to do the same. Legally, they don't have to give us anything, but it can't hurt to try.
My HOA is forcing me to say goodbye to DISH
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Not to discount the opinion from your attorney but his analogy of speeding may be off point in this case.
He should consult some real estate law. The analogy to be made is more like your fence a few inches on your neighbors property for 14 years and one day the neighbor demands you move it even though he has know about it all along.
Plenty of case law covering that scenario and the rights of both parties.
He should consult some real estate law. The analogy to be made is more like your fence a few inches on your neighbors property for 14 years and one day the neighbor demands you move it even though he has know about it all along.
Plenty of case law covering that scenario and the rights of both parties.
I agree with Ranger 484 the lawyer is full of it. Speeding is nothing like something that has been installed and existing for 14 yrs. Something or someone in the HOA has changed and is benefiting from this change. You are being placed in a position in which you will be screwed by removing it and they need to pay for this. That if you can no longer have it you shouldn't have to be the one that pays the ETF. You are being forced to remove it and those that are forcing you to do it should be made to pay for this as you have had the pole there for 14 yrs. Again I urge you to talk to the other people in that HOA that are also being forced to do this. Then all of you should approach the A**hole HOA with the ETF problem and the fact that there has been no enforcement until now.
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And if I live with a chick for more than 14 years, its called commen law and she owns half of everything.......? Dont beleave it one bit, sounds like just another lazy lawyer who cant make money off it and would rather not be bothered.....You mean to tell me if he sent a nasty threating letter to th HOA with his letter head on it(for free) they just might look at this mess through a different angle????
No disrespect meant, but advice is only good if it's put to use. It's just fodder if the only purpose is to belabor doing nothing, and there's a name for that. We call it Congress.
Ghpr13
Ghpr13
The rule has been in effect since 2003. A dish has been in place at it's current location since 1997.
It just keeps getting better. I received yet another letter today. This time from a law firm. It seems the HOA has actually hired lawyers just for this matter. Looks like they're playing for keeps. The letter generally stated everything that was in the letter I received from the HOA and also broke down the fines I would receive if I do not comply. They're pretty stiff. If the dish is not removed, and the "damage" done to the eave is not repaired by August 15th, the fines start to kick in. They will hire someone to remove all the dishes still in violation at the owner's expense. Nice, huh?
They are doing the same thing as I suggested you do in the first place. A letter from a lawyer is nothing more than a scare tactic to get you to do what they want you to do.
Its just like 4 years ago I had an affiliate selling Dish for me, and one day I cut him off and held all his commissions for 6 months until the chargeback period was over. Six months later I get a nice little letter in the mail from his attorney, asking me to pay his client $700,000 in 10 days or provide him with a responce why I feel the money was not due.
On the 10th day I gave him my responce and served him with a lawsuit as a responce to his letter.
3 years later, this is still tied up in court because neither side is really owed any money and neither of us want to pay our lawyers to proceed with the case...
Point here is that I would have a lawyer write a responce back, and buy some time.
If you really want to cause a problem, get a good lawyer who is willing to work for a reasonable fee. Knock on everyones door who has a Dish, and see if they would be willing to put in $20 or $50 each to pay a lawyer and have the lawyer threaten legal action agenst the board.
The lawyer is going to run back to the board, and report back whats going on and advise that if this goes to court it might cost $5000 to defend.
This type of stuff never goes to court, it all gets settled out of court between the attorneys to keep the costs low for their clients. The only winners here are the attorneys themselves for billing their clients for ther time.
Yep, it is time to get an attorney. that dish was in place 6 years before the rule was put into effect. Any financial burden should be the responsibility of the HOA for demanding compliance.
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Is it really worth all this aggravation and money? When in the end, sooner or later, that dish is coming down anyway?
Sometimes it's best to cut our losses.
Sometimes it's best to cut our losses.
I agree 100%. Next year, I am moving regardless of whether the HOA lets me keeps the dish up or not. After that, I'll never have to deal with an HOA again. I'm already losing money on this. I don't need to lose more. I don't understand why people don't get that. This whole country is "sue" crazy.
Contact the DIRT people and see if they can put you on pause. Since you are under contract you may not be able to do it.
It has nothing to do with being lawsuit happy, no one is telling you to sue. You wanted help and people gave you good ideas you chose to ignore. You chose to go hide under your blankets from the big mean HOA instead of having a lawyer write a letter.
HOA's are like collection agencies, once you show them you know your rights and are willing to do something about it they will usually try to work with you. They are not going to pay lawyers thousands of dollars an hour to go after you for a couple hundred bucks.
HOA's are like collection agencies, once you show them you know your rights and are willing to do something about it they will usually try to work with you. They are not going to pay lawyers thousands of dollars an hour to go after you for a couple hundred bucks.
Does he or did he ? Re-read his original post.... he was simply stating what was going on.
Paint it.. push a bush up under it to hide it... jesus, get creative on making it no visual from a distance unless you really are looking for it. Hell I saw someone cover there Sat dish on the ground with a fiberglass looking cover so it looks like a rock now. You can paint the dish the color of your house too...
Paint it.. push a bush up under it to hide it... jesus, get creative on making it no visual from a distance unless you really are looking for it. Hell I saw someone cover there Sat dish on the ground with a fiberglass looking cover so it looks like a rock now. You can paint the dish the color of your house too...
I don't know...the OP has made it clear that he's up against a "Rock and an HOA place" as it is.
Ghpr13
As a former President of a HOA, I suggest you read the rules. Find the fine section. if they don't list fines then much can not be done. As an example if they say a $300 fine is coming for non removal, any court will state this is excessive.
When you first had this installed did they grant approval for the install? If so then state, I am under contract and you approved. If the rules do not list satellites as a No-No or the need for special exemption then this will also help you. The board can not suddenly create rules or threaten on their own. Threats of these sorts will go no where.
You really need to get with all the Satellite owners and attend the next meeting to voice your concern. If you do not find answers in the rule push the board for answers.
When you first had this installed did they grant approval for the install? If so then state, I am under contract and you approved. If the rules do not list satellites as a No-No or the need for special exemption then this will also help you. The board can not suddenly create rules or threaten on their own. Threats of these sorts will go no where.
You really need to get with all the Satellite owners and attend the next meeting to voice your concern. If you do not find answers in the rule push the board for answers.
