Neighbor taking satellite signal??

[broadcasttheworld]

I had to deal with ground loops in my oilfield instrumentation days...seems like this would cause one. I would just remove the cable and act dumb.

I would assume the appartment is fed off of the same power source. "power co" So ground loop should not be an issue.

 

[JosephB]

No, legally, it belongs to the apartment complex. Technically, anyone adding/removing to the dish would need to contact the apartment complex; this includes the tech who installed the other customer to this dish and if the existing customer wants to disconnect it. The tenant has ZERO rights outside his occupied space (for the argument that its "on my property" only works if its on his balcony/porch). There are good reasons why when you move, Dish/Direc tells you to leave the dish behind... and one of those reasons is because once something becomes affixed (IE: the dish, whether its pole or on a mast), it legally becomes a part of the property.

First, you need to talk to the apartment complex to make sure they did not authorize the tenant/tech to use THEIR dish, then take it up with DirecTV.

Yet another reason why techs, HSPs, tenants and management lothe apartment installs

This is wrong. The dish is still the property of the tenant. The complex owner has given the tenant special rights in this case to have the dish installed. The location of an item does not transfer ownership of the item. DirecTV wants you to leave it in place so that they can easily sign up the next tenant/owner of a home.

By this statement, I am guessing that DirecTV furnished your installation. And this is all leased equipment. If it is leased then technically the dish belongs to DirecTV and you are just using it. I see no problem with it being used for multiple customers as long as it physically isn't creating issues for your Setup. If you ever need to add more receivers then it might be an issue, but it would be DirecTV's issue to make it work and not yours.. I guess I just share a different viewpoint on this but I don't really see a problem.. An apartment complex is just a little different type of install than if this had been at your house and someone had trenched across your property.

Actually, the dish is one part of the system that you own. That's why you have to have the protection plan to pay for anything that goes wrong with the dish or cabling, otherwise you have to pay out of pocket.

 

[broadcasttheworld]

Are you saying that you know the law in the state of the op? I certainly don't, but it is obvious to me that the work was done against his expressed permission. He might want to wait until he finds out if the management gave their permission, whether they had the right to or not, for the work to be done. If they didn't, I would cut the wire myself!

I agree! If you are renting I would make sure the complex did not okay this arrangement. If my renters had a dish mounted at one of my complexes I would ask that anyone that can use that one dish. Several dishes make for an eyesore. Personally I think your being an idiot for not allowing this arrangement in the first place. Like everyone is saying if it makes no difference in your service “which it doesn’t” and the installer did a neat job, then you either do not like this guy using your dish “personally” or you are an idiot.

 

[JosephB]

I agree! If you are renting I would make sure the complex did not okay this arrangement. If my renters had a dish mounted at one of my complexes I would ask that anyone that can use that one dish. Several dishes make for an eyesore. Personally I think your being an idiot for not allowing this arrangement in the first place. Like everyone is saying if it makes no difference in your service “which it doesn’t” and the installer did a neat job, then you either do not like this guy using your dish “personally” or you are an idiot.

Well the problem is that he might decide to add a receiver, in which case he would not have enough outputs. Also, he has said multiple times that when he moves out he must take the dish with him, which will leave the neighbor in a lurch.

It was said, but it wasn't entirely clear..is the neighbor in the same building or a different building? If it's a different building, is it the same complex/landlord? I'd get the landlord involved. Check to see if they would still want you to take the dish when you move if the neighbor is using it.

 

[HDRoberts]

The dish is on my personal property and I find it incredibly mind blowing that D* would't even seek my permission before coming on my property and running wires and digging a trench. What gets me even more is it is a pole install that I am now paying for and apartment rules stipulate that I MUST remove the dish and pole when I move out.

You lost me here. If your renting, how is it your property? I would not be surprised if the landlord requested such an install to avoid having multiple dishes.

 

[skyviewmark]

Actually, the dish is one part of the system that you own. That's why you have to have the protection plan to pay for anything that goes wrong with the dish or cabling, otherwise you have to pay out of pocket.

Technically correct, but unless you just want to be a hard a** about it, it really doesn't matter. If you decide to move, you still leave the dish and DirecTV brings you a new one.. And if you add more boxes DirecTV is responsible to make it work with what is there.. I guess I just don't see making a problem with a neighbor over something that isn't likely to cause a problem...

We don't know all the facts.. Maybe the installer was just being lazy, but also maybe the neighbor couldn't get LOS from his yard.. I have an apartment complex with 50+ units all working off the same dish. So I know that this is not going to be a big problem for the OP. Sometimes just being neighborly makes more since..

 

[randyk47]

OK. Yep, DirecTV installer should have asked, in this case again, before hooking up the neighbor. Got that and the installer did wrong. On the other hand the OP obviously got some kind of permission to install a dish in what sounds like common ground. Seems to me he could win the battle but lose the war here by not allowing the neighbor to use the dish. I know what I'd do if I was the landlord. I'd say "Fine. You can't get along and share and I allowed you to put the dish in a common area. Then find a place where you have sole use and remove the dish in the common area now."

 

[bmr4242]

The dish is installed in an area that I have sole use, not a common area. That was one of the rules the apartment had me follow. Another is that I must take the dish and pole with me when I move out. If I go before the neighbor he is going to be without a dish and there is nothing I can do about that. There is to much that can go wrong down the road. I would rather nip this problem right now than a year or two when I move. Not to mention if I want to add another TV before I move I am stuck now. I have been in apartments before and never had this problem. Before I signed my lease I made sure I could bring my dish and have line of site within their guidelines. If this guy wanted the service as bad as I did he could have gone through the same steps I did before he moved into his place.

 

[beast37799]

but did the landlord allow a trench to be dug? if i were a land lord that would piss me off more then a dish somewhere .but i would check if the complex gave permission if notthen its really damaging private property for digging the trench

 

[DodgerKing]

No, legally, it belongs to the apartment complex. Technically, anyone adding/removing to the dish would need to contact the apartment complex; this includes the tech who installed the other customer to this dish and if the existing customer wants to disconnect it. The tenant has ZERO rights outside his occupied space (for the argument that its "on my property" only works if its on his balcony/porch). There are good reasons why when you move, Dish/Direc tells you to leave the dish behind... and one of those reasons is because once something becomes affixed (IE: the dish, whether its pole or on a mast), it legally becomes a part of the property.

First, you need to talk to the apartment complex to make sure they did not authorize the tenant/tech to use THEIR dish, then take it up with DirecTV.

Yet another reason why techs, HSPs, tenants and management lothe apartment installs

Since he said pole mount on his property, it could be a patio/grass areas off of his apartment similar to that of a balcony. In which case, he would have property rights.

 

[Zynergi]

Fact of the matter is, it shouldnt have been done. One installer at least asked.. My guess is the neighbor complained and told a D* CSR "but thars a dish right behind me, can I use dat" so D* reissued the work order. The second tech cam out.. the neighbor started the convo with "D* told me..." so the tech being lazy an obviously incompetent just did the work.

Since I am willing to bet you are not allowed to sub lease your property, offering to keep his service active on it for what you paid for the pole with the understanding that you have to remove it when you leave, probably isnt an option. Specially when you seem overly bent out of shape about it.

Honestly here are 2 situations I would do. Talk to your management company and see if they authorized it, and what options you have with them. Talk to the neighbor (civilally) about the situation and at least give them a heads up that the lines they have installed may be removed/cut. Chances are high that their apartment faces the wrong way to even get service, might make a new friend out of it.

Technically you (as you have noticed so far) will not have any issues with reception and all someone would have to do to add more lines is put a switch at the dish, no big deal. No one is being hurt here except you (mentally) "NO Dammit they are my french fries you cant have some" I would talk to the neighbor and make amends. It isnt your fault at all, but keep in mind that he is under contract now and this "action" of yours may end up costing him a couple hundred dollars. Just be a nice guy and make arrangements with him.

 

[nascr2424]

If its not going to really bother you, why not ask direct tv to give you some type of credit for using your dish for another subscriber, if they say no then tell them to remove the lines of of YOUR dish. just a thought

 

[NotMe546]

To many things can go wrong. Landscaper cuts the wire, Lightning hits, Kids break the dish and then what you would have to talk to him to have him go half on fixing it. Puck that!!! He went for the expensive so should the a-hole instead of stealing form him!! Cause that's what he and D* did!!!
To all of you who say its ok I guess you wouldn't have a problem if lived by you and help himself to anything he wanted of yours!!!
They where told NO and they did it anyway. WTF!!!!

 

[Joe Diamond]

I have seen this situation handled exactly the other way. A local TP has many trees and few LOS spots. So the neighbors get along. Cable gets run under units and attached to neighbor units. Dishes serve many tenants. When dishes get dinged (mostly boat trailer incidents) folks work it out. Nobody locks their doors or even knows where the keys are.

Calling the police or cutting wire; idiots!

This is only TV.

Joe

 

[djrobx]

I can't believe so many of you are tring justify this action and are going as far as to villify the OP. Some person is coming onto HIS balcony and is messing with equipment that he is responsible for without his permission, after they were told NO. That's illegal. It doesn't matter what his reasons are!

If it were me, I'd document everything with pictures. Call DirecTV and let them know what's going on. Call the building management and let them know too. Then I'd disconnect (properly, not cut) the cables and get them out of my exclusive use area before I got a nasty letter from the apartment manager. If you aren't comfortable working on the equipment, see if D* can do it for you, but for me it wouldn't be worth the hassle of setting up an appointment and fighting over a service call charge just to disconnect one or two coax cables.

If this were being done properly, the installer should have required written permission from the OP and the bulding management. Without written approval, the OP could get in serious trouble. Even if the management was made aware and agreed to this, WRITTEN approval is necessary in the event that the building management changes hands. It's very common for new management to come in and crack down on things that previous managers turned a blind eye to.

Quite a headache, with no benefit to the OP.

 

[Inno]

Ok, so you're paying to rent an apartment. You have acquired permission from the landlord to have a dish installed, as I understand it on a pole outside your apartment, correct?
I'm assuming you're on ground level because you state that you "own" the piece of grass outside your apt., is this correct? Is it fenced or otherwise divided so as to prevent some other neighbor/peron walking across it? If it is, then yes, the installer was in the wrong in doing it without your permission.
If it's simply a part of a courtyard or backyard which is open for all tenants to use, walk on, sit on etc. then I see it as a different issue but not really an offense against you, more on the property belonging to the landlord/property owner. For the installer to trench into the ground he should most certainly have had to get permission from the landlord/manager. If not he not only damaged private property, he also ran the risk of damaging any other cable or pipe already run underground causing a potentially dangerous situation.

Either way, it's not quite right, but not for the reasons you originally stated. I'm not sure about the ownership of the dish itself, but I'm sure that at least the receiver etc. is leased and is never owned by the customer, but that still doesn't give anybody the right to tap a signal off of your receiver does it?

I think what I'd do is contact your landlord or building manager and bring it to his attention and find out if he were ever consulted before any of this was done.

Again, without all the facts it's really hard to say who's in the wrong and I can see the OP having a legitimate concern but I'd be a bit more cautious than some have suggested. Calling the police or cutting the cable should only be a last resort unless you want to start a war with your neighbor. Your neighbor is maybe not even aware that what the installer did was wrong.

 

[spaceghost]

Are you saying that you know the law in the state of the op? I certainly don't, but it is obvious to me that the work was done against his expressed permission. He might want to wait until he finds out if the management gave their permission, whether they had the right to or not, for the work to be done. If they didn't, I would cut the wire myself!

Actually yes I am saying exactly that. Not only do I know the real estate rule, I took the course in the same city as the OP. Would you like me to rip a page out of the book and scan it to you? Its not a law. Its a ruling that the law would use.

I am only saying what are the actual rights of the tenant. Im only saying cutting the lines is not recommended and the apartment complex needs to make the decision on whether a new dish needs to be put up.

 

[spaceghost]

The dish is installed in an area that I have sole use, not a common area. That was one of the rules the apartment had me follow. Another is that I must take the dish and pole with me when I move out. If I go before the neighbor he is going to be without a dish and there is nothing I can do about that. There is to much that can go wrong down the road. I would rather nip this problem right now than a year or two when I move. Not to mention if I want to add another TV before I move I am stuck now. I have been in apartments before and never had this problem. Before I signed my lease I made sure I could bring my dish and have line of site within their guidelines. If this guy wanted the service as bad as I did he could have gone through the same steps I did before he moved into his place.

Are you in Asheville, NC? If so, i can help you.

GENERALLY speak, if you look straight up (over the dish) and there is no roof above that spot, then its a common area. If its over a roofed in area, then you can go to town cutting the cables. If not, its wise to deal with the tenant and management first.

 

[bmr4242]

Ok, so you're paying to rent an apartment. You have acquired permission from the landlord to have a dish installed, as I understand it on a pole outside your apartment, correct?
I'm assuming you're on ground level because you state that you "own" the piece of grass outside your apt., is this correct? Is it fenced or otherwise divided so as to prevent some other neighbor/peron walking across it? If it is, then yes, the installer was in the wrong in doing it without your permission.
If it's simply a part of a courtyard or backyard which is open for all tenants to use, walk on, sit on etc.

It is a ground level apartment and the pole is in the ground where I "exclusive" use all though there is no fence.

 

[sundude90]

Did directv call you back yet. What did they say?