Renters Can Install Satellite Dishes

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The federal government has given renters permission to install small satellite dishes or other TV antennas on balconies, patios or gardens that aren't shared with other tenants, but not in common areas such as apartment building lobbies or roofs.

      The Federal Communications Commission's action applies to rental properties such as apartments and single family homes, but it won't affect common areas such as apartment building lobbies or roofs.

      The rules also permit people to install these devices inside their rented homes or apartments as long as they do not drill into walls or do any other damage to the property, FCC officials said. That part of the FCC's order anticipates a time when technology advances and becomes widespread to allow satellite dishes, wireless antennas and other receiving devices to pick up TV signals indoors. At least one new wireless antenna can already do that.

      The rules supersede any existing leasing agreements that restrict tenants from installing dishes or other TV antennas FCC officials said. The FCC already has similar rules in place for people who live in condominiums, cooperatives and manufactured homes.

      "The commission has thus eliminated the have-and-have-not distinction that gave homeowners access to the competitive video market but denied it to all apartment dwellers," then FCC Chairman Bill Kennard said.

      An estimated 10 million people in the United States get their TV via satellite. Most of them-8-million-pick up these signals on small, pizza-sized dishes.

      Consumer groups, satellite TV companies, broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers were among the groups asking the FCC to give renters the right to install TV antennas

      Associations representing apartment owners, home builders and real estate managers argued against this, contending that such rules would unconstitutionally tread on their property owner's rights.

      FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott Roth agreed with rental property owners. He wrote: "We cannot prescribe general federalized lease terms (although) I fear that may be the logical implication of this decision and the very nature of contracts is that their terms can be customized to suit the particular circumstances in which the parties find themselves."

      The FCC's action responds to a 1996 telecommunications law that gave the agency the authority to enact regulations that would end restrictions impairing a viewer's ability to receive TV programming via various technologies.

Typical lease clause or house rule affected by the ruling:

ANTENNAS

Any antenna or satellite dish placed on or attached on the roof or exterior walls of the building without consent of the property owner in writing is liable to removal without notice.

Update RE  Common Areas

      Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order, effective January 22, 1999, for implementation of Section 207 of the Act. Section 207 prohibits any restrictions that impair a viewer's ability to receive video programming signals from direct broadcast satellites, television broadcast stations and wireless cable providers. Landlords are prohibited by the Act from restricting a tenant's ability to receive such signals. Generally, a landlord cannot prohibit a tenant from installing a receiver in any area to which the tenant has exclusive rights-balcony, patio, deck, or interior of the rental unit. The landlord may, however, prohibit a tenant from installing such a receiver in any common areas not under the tenant's exclusive control, and from drilling holes through the roof or exterior walls.

Applicability of Section 207 Restrictions

Section 207 requirements are applicable to all tenant-occupied residential and nonresidential buildings, mobile home parks, condominium associations, cooperative associations, and homeowners associations created by subdivision restrictions. A viewer may place a dish or antenna on or in property he owns or rents, provided that the receiver is placed in an area that is within his exclusive control and intended for his exclusive use.

Exemptions

The FCC rule does not prohibit all landlord or homeowners association restrictions, however. Restrictions limiting satellite dishes to a size of one meter in diameter, and antenna masts to a height of 12 feet, are enforceable.

.   Restrictions on receivers installed in common areas are enforceable.

. Under some circumstances, a community association or landlord can use the availability of a central dish or common antenna to restrict the installation of individual receivers.

.    Restrictions necessary for historic preservation are permitted even if they impair installation, maintenance or use of a receiver. To qualify for this restriction, the structure must be included in or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

.   A restriction prohibiting receivers installed beyond an owner's or tenant's exclusive area is enforceable-for example, a receiver extending beyond a tenant's deck into a common area.

.   An ordinance or subdivision restriction that requires an owner to place a receiver in the back yard is enforceable if the placement does not reduce the quality of the reception or impose an unreasonable expense.

The FCC rule applies only to receivers used for video reception. Therefore, restrictions against antennas used for AM/FM radio, "ham" radio, and Internet signals are enforceable.

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