Condo owner's rights to cable tv

[timst1251]

I own a condo in Southern California and I've been trying to get our HOA (Homeowners Association) to upgrade to optical cable tv/internet lines. I went up to Time Warner and they sent some people down to do survey of the property and then they drawed up a schematic of how the new lines would be put in.

Right now Dish Network seems like the main stable here at these condos. However, I prefer the local cable tv so that I can view our City Council meetings, which I can't receive on Dish Network. At the last HOA meeting, the board decided to scrap Time Warner's plan as they said it put too many unsightly lines on the outside of the building ... Dish Network already has these unsightly lines outside of our building.

What are my rights on getting the upgrade to optical lines? The lines we have presently are about 25 years old and tend to go out now and then. Does the Board have to come up with new plans for the cable company seeing that they scrapped the Time Warner plans?

Thanks.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I own a condo in Southern California and I've been trying to get our HOA (Homeowners Association) to upgrade to optical cable tv/internet lines. I went up to Time Warner and they sent some people down to do survey of the property and then they drawed up a schematic of how the new lines would be put in.

Right now Dish Network seems like the main stable here at these condos. However, I prefer the local cable tv so that I can view our City Council meetings, which I can't receive on Dish Network. At the last HOA meeting, the board decided to scrap Time Warner's plan as they said it put too many unsightly lines on the outside of the building ... Dish Network already has these unsightly lines outside of our building.

What are my rights on getting the upgrade to optical lines? The lines we have presently are about 25 years old and tend to go out now and then. Does the Board have to come up with new plans for the cable company seeing that they scrapped the Time Warner plans?

Your ability to get optical cable is probably governed by the Condo's bylaws and how decisions of this type are made. This is not a small decision since upgrading cable will likely require a cost to the building owners since it involves dealing with common spaces, including the issue discussed. That's the difficult part of owning a condo -- you "own" it but you don't exactly have the right to do what you want with it in many respects.