Adding antenna to a private deck

Question: I live in an old apartment complex and would like to buy a big flat-screen TV but have encountered a stumbling block. The TV company says it can’t give me high definition until the owners improve the wiring. When I ask the manager, I get the runaround. My unit has a large private deck where I could easily mount a satellite dish and run wires into my apartment, thus bypassing the present wiring. I heard a year or two back about a law that should apply to a situation like mine -- permitting a tenant to independently contract for individual cable or satellite television despite any exclusive arrangements by the apartment ownership. Could you give me a citation to this statute or ordinance and clarify my options?

Answer: Just about a year ago, the Federal Communications Commission issued a final regulation that forbade owners of multi-unit residential buildings from entering into “exclusive” deals with audio and video providers.

But your wish to receive high-def TV wouldn’t be solved by invoking the FCC rule and calling a different cable provider (whom your landlord wouldn’t necessarily have to let into his building -- the ban on exclusive contracts doesn’t mean that every cable company has the right to enter the building) because of the antique wiring.

You have, instead, hit upon a different solution, which is to rely on your right to receive satellite transmissions independent of any wiring in the building or existing cable deals. Since 1996, the year the Federal Telecommunications Act was passed, landlords cannot unreasonably interfere with tenants’ rights to mount an antenna within their exclusive rented space. You can learn the specifics of this rule by going to www.fcc.gov and typing “over-the-air reception devices rule” in the search box.

-- Janet Portman, Inman News

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