Homeowners Association says I can't put a DISH on my house....I need some help here! (1 Viewer)

[Michael D. Bunting]

I just moved into a new home.
Directv came out and said they would not be able to get a signal. I said fine...leave!
I called DISH NETWORK...they came out...said they would definitely be able to get a signal and so then I scheduled an install for 2 days later.
2 days later: Dish installer shows up...starts to put the dish up on the side of the house....and just after he completes this task...my next door neighbor (who also happens to be the President of the HOA) comes outside and says" You cannot have a dish up on the house that is viewable from the street, if you do, you have to have some kind of cover or box built around it."
The backyard will be almost impossible for me to get a signal of any kind (DIRECTV or DISH) due to some very large trees (not on my property).
The Dish installer removed the dish and went home. He understood the problem...but didn't want to get into so I don't blame him for just leaving. And I didn't want him to put the dish up and then I commit to 12 months of programming and then not be able to use the dish due to Homeowners Association regs.
Now, I live in a court...and you can't see the dish as you drive up to my house. You can only see it when you do a full 360 degree turn out of my court.
So, the wife and I drove up and down our street once the other night after this happened. We counted 4 DIRECTV/DISH Network dishes that are CLEARLY visible from the street. One of those 4 is mounted SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRONT of the HOUSE!!
I then started to research some FCC regs on the internet:
Link Removed
And it seems that they (HOA) cannot regulate the placement of Dishes or antennas afterall, according to the fact Shhet linked above (at least by my understanding).
They can have a list of preferred placement areas for your home that one must try to abide by...but it goes on to say that if a signal cannot be aquired from those preferred locations for your house, that they cannot stop you from putting one on the front of your house, if that is what is needed to be able to get a clear signal.
I have not talked to the HOA President since that day. He was pretty arrogant and probably just didn't want a dish visible from his house or something(?).
Anyways, I have DIRECTV coming out again tomorrow morning...and I'm just going to tell them to get a signal..and put the dish wherever they need to be able to get that signal. I will deal w/ the HOA later.
But what do you guys think.....did I read the fact sheet correctly?
Thanks for any input...... all I know is that my next home will not have a HOA tied to it
Thanks!

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Mods please delte all the other posts...AT&T Broadband problems
Sorry :frowning:

 

[Holadem]

What was that Michael? We didn't quite catch your post!
--
Holadem

 

[KyleS]

Yeah what was that all about? Man you must have been pretty pissed off to hit the submit button that many times.
As you already stated the home owner association or rental companies Cannot stop you from putting a dish up unless it is damaging their property in some way. You should be fine and if you have problems print out and show the President of your Association the FCC ruling.
KyleS

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I did some research on this while living in an apartment. I'm pretty sure you are 100% correct that you can do this. Receiving TV signals is basically a right, and the HOA can't limit this except by excluding the real large dishes unless their in your backyard.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I won't mention anything about repeated posts...
As for the HOA, I'd make sure that there's no bylaw as part of your condo corp (or whatever governing body it may be) that they have which states that you're not allowed to mount a dish. In other words, find out if it's a suggestion or a requirement.
I'd definately say though that if you've got a lot of neighbours with dishes, then it might not be that big a deal for you to mount a dish. Your neighbour might just be on a power-trip and want to flex some muscle. If that's the case, thank him for his opinion, but let him know that it's your property and you'll manage it as you wish, until such a time as everyone in the neighbourhood is subject to the same requirements as you are.
There's nothing worse then selective application of these kinds of rules. It's ok for person #1 to do something, but not ok for person #2 because "no one said anything". It's all or nothing. Either everyone has the rules applied to them, or the rule doesn't apply.
Of course, you could end up with several pissed off neighbours who will then be required to dismount their dishes... :b
You could contest it as well, and see if you can have the HOA vote to amend the bylaw/rule.
Moe.

 

[Neil M]

Yeah I wouldn't worry to much about it. My family went through the same thing and we kindly told the Neighborhood association to "F**k off". There really is not much they can do unless they can prove that it will damage the property. I read a story about someone who went to court over it and spent $85000 to defend their right to have a large satellite dish in their neighborhood. They won out. So there is precendent in the matter.

 

[DavidAM]

Well you seem pretty informed already. I was gonna tell you about the FCC law, but you knew it, so just put up your dish and don't worry about it. The guy is being a dickhead just because he can. Its not his property so do as you wish. If he bitches, show him the FCC law and tell him to take it up with them. He probably already knows the law and is just hoping you don't.

 

[Joe Szott]

Yeah, sounds like an HOA weenie. Just ignore em, they usually tire themselves out from their own steam. If 4-5 other folks have DISHes, then he can go spit or try to get them all taken down.

 

[Ryan Wright]

You could contest it as well, and see if you can have the HOA vote to amend the bylaw/rule.

Don't bother. Put your dish up, print out the FCC regulation, and shove it in the face of that idiot next door. Anyone else who says a thing about it, give them a copy.

Here's my standard answer for these types of bullies: "Tough shit. If you don't like it, you can take me to court." Haven't had a single taker.

 

[Jay Taylor]

You're doing the right thing and you are correct that they may request a location for the dish but if the signal is unacceptable then you may place it in the least conspicuous location that gets a good signal.

I'm the president of our HOA and our covenants forbid outside antennas. Last year I copied the FCC information you referred to, made copies for everyone in the association, and presented it at the next meeting. Now everyone in our association realizes that our covenants are not binding in this matter and many of us have installed dishes in the least conspicuous location that's acceptable.

No one complained and they realize they'd have to fight the feds if they did.

Jay Taylor

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

The HOA is in violation of federal regulation 47 CFR 1.4000. Print out the Link Removed at the FCC web site and show it to the president of the neighborhood nazis. Advise him not to make a federal case out of it, because the HOA has the burden of proving that its prohibition on dishes is not in violation of the federal statute, and until the HOA does so you get to keep the dish and you cannot be penalized if they win. He can call 1-888-CALLFCC for clarification of anything he may not understand.
The fact sheet has links to about a dozen different declaratory rulings by the FCC. For HOAs it is not pretty. None of the HOA restrictions challenged by these petitions has withstood the FCC scrutiny. All were thrown out, except for one where the HOA had safety restrictions which were found to be valid but also had other restrictions in the name of safety which were determined to be overly burdensome and thus prohibited by the FCC.
My take: If you own the house then you have the right to install a dish. The HOA can require you to install it in your back yard where it can't be seen from the street, but not if you can't get a good signal in the back yard or if it otherwise imposes an unreasonable additional expense or delay. Also, the HOA cannot require you to add shrubbery or other expensive construction to disguise the dish. Especially if there are no similar rules for other similarly sized objects such as garbage cans or air conditioner units. At most you can be required to paint the dish, the FCC says that is not an unreasonable expense.
You'd think that satellite dish installers would have copies of the federal documentation on hand to give to you so you could use it to at least try to thwart neighborhood nazis on the spot. An installer shouldn't be so quick to throw his hands up and leave. He doesn't get paid if he doesn't install a dish, does he?

 

[Danny Tse]

The FCC info was also in the printed Radio Shack catalog. In the pages where they list the outdoor TV antennas. Of course.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

My condo association maintains that they do have the right to restrict mounting the dish on the side of the building (which they own). With that proviso in place and established, the %&^%*(%# association did let me put up the dish anyway.

If the assn hadn't allowed me to hang it on the side of the building, the FCC rule in place would have let me do a temporary install (vertical pole set in concrete in a tire base) on my patio.

 

[Ryan Wright]

My condo association maintains that they do have the right to restrict mounting the dish on the side of the building (which they own)

And they do. Their building, their rules. But you can always set the dish on your patio (as you said), or in a window, or anywhere else within the private area you own/lease.

 

[Jordan_E]

I HATE HOAs! It's all about dues and ego!

 

[DustinDavis]

And they do. Their building, their rules. But you can always set the dish on your patio (as you said), or in a window, or anywhere else within the private area you own/lease.

My understanding is that this one is not entirely black and white. The rule relies on you having "exclusive use" of a particular area. At many condos, the patios, even if they are seemingly on "your property" are defined as "group areas". Remember, the condo owns and is responsible for the exterior of the units. So it's not just as simple as "this is my back porch, I can do what I want with it." You may still find yourself restricted.

 

[Todd Hochard]

you may place it in the least conspicuous location that gets a good signal.

That's the correct answer.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

At many condos, the patios, even if they are seemingly on "your property" are defined as "group areas". Remember, the condo owns and is responsible for the exterior of the units. So it's not just as simple as "this is my back porch, I can do what I want with it." You may still find yourself restricted.

Nope. Just because the condo association calls it a "common area" doesn't make it one. The FCC says the rule applies to any area where you have "exclusive use". It really is a matter of "this is my back porch".

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Wow! Thanks for all the words of encouragement in dealing with this situation!
DIRECTV will be here in the A.M. (8-12) to TRY and install my dish...if they can get a signal...and it's good to know that I can now tell them to put the dish anywhere they can in order to get a signal.
If they cannot...(and they actually may not be able to get a clear line of sight) due to those very large trees I was talking about...I will be calling back the Dish Network guy to come back out a second time (if he will?) to put the dish where he needs to do to get a signal. He was a very nice fellow and I'm sure he won't mind coming out again for me.
The HOA president will hear from me sometime...I'm just not sure when! I really don't want to speak to him anytime soon!
I already have a copy of the FCC fact sheet printed out...and he will be getting a copy ASAP...maybe I'll mysteriously leave a copy on his front doorstep or in his mailbox tomorrow
Thanks again for all your help...I'll let you all know what happens from here on out.
I'm sure that when he returns home from work on Tuesday evening and sees my dish up he will storm right over to my house to lecture me again. At least now I'll have some ammunition on me to defend my rights - thanks to you all.
Mike