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Bought home and moved in some 3 months ago, had DirecTV install a new dish. They said they don't go on roofs any more and suggested a wall location, and it was done.
Shortly thereafter my neighbor came to me during trash time and said it's "really bothering her" and asked that it be moved. Out of good faith I called DTV and they kindly sent a tech out to review. He let me know that at most he could move it about 3 -4 feet up and I'd have to deal with the old installation holes myself.
I told the neighbor that and asked if they would cover the cost of the wall repair while I took care of the re-location of the antenna. They said no and I needed to take care of it all myself. They also immediately took it up with the HOA, who has stayed neutral on this topic (ie they didn't ask me to move it).
So I looked up the law and sure enough, HOAs cannot demand this due to the FCC laws and all. So I went on with my life.
Now, some weeks later, I have a letter from the HOA demanding that I remove the old antenna, which admittedly is rusted. They claim it is ugly or some such thing. Thing is, it is virtually invisible unless one is standing in a specific location about 100 feet away from the house AND looking for it.
Whether or not this is courtesy of my neighbor I can only surmise. Fact remains I have to remove it. It is on a Spanish tile roof and I guess it would be expensive.
What would you suggest, short of straightforward compliance? I'm not a rulebreaker and have complied with several of the HOAs requests already but given this is barely visible I feel they have been put up to it.
So if you've got a new dish and the old one's just sitting there on your roof not doing anything, why not just go up, take it off, seal the holes with some pookie, declare victory? I wouldn't want the dead one sitting up there anyway.
I wouldn't set up as oppositional-defiant 3 months in; you have no idea what influence your neighbor who complained may have with the HOA board.
Every By-law, covenant, and architectural guideline that I have ever seen, whether as a builder or as a homeowner, usually state- “from the street”. So with that in mind, and you state it’s “only visible...”, that should give you a good indicator as to the source of the pending action.
I understand you wanted to be a “good neighbor”, but I would have stopped my neighbor in their tracks by telling them the FCC says it can go wherever I get the best signal, and/or where the installer is limited- period!
So if you've got a new dish and the old one's just sitting there on your roof not doing anything, why not just go up, take it off, seal the holes with some pookie, declare victory? I wouldn't want the dead one sitting up there anyway.
I wouldn't set up as oppositional-defiant 3 months in; you have no idea what influence your neighbor who complained may have with the HOA board.
Easier said than done. Ten years ago I might have considered this :-)
Are there two dishes on this house (an older rusting roof-mount as well as your new wall-mount)?
Which dish was annoying the neighbor?
Which dish is the HOA complaining about?
What do the CC&Rs actually say about satellite dishes and visibility? Sounds as if that should have played into the decision where to mount the new dish...maybe this problem would never have come up in the first place.
If I had an old rusty dish just sitting there unused I'd probably have it removed, the holes caulked, and move on with life. Sounds like a handyman job to me. If the neighbor and the HOA are complaining about a functional dish that could only be moved a few feet at best, I'd test the resulting new location for visibility and reception and report back to the HOA with evidence from the provider to back me up. If moving it will render it unusable, my "defense" for leaving it alone would be the FCC rule. HOAs can grant variances if presented with a reasonable explanation. I guess it comes down to which hill you prefer to die on. An irate neighbor and trouble with an HOA will have larger repercussions than moving a satellite dish.
Last edited by Parnassia; 11-10-2020 at 02:17 PM..
Yeah, if you don't want to get up there yourself pay your guy $30 an hour - it'll take less than an hour to go up the ladder, unscrew what needs to be unscrewed, caulk any holes and set the unwanted bits at the curb.
I would have told the neighbor to f**k off and go on with my life.
As for the second part, just go find someone at Home Depot or something and pay them $50 to go up and take it off, or find a handyman to do it. it is a very quick job.
Everyone apparently overlooked..... the roof is Spanish Clay tile....extremely fragile....not a handyman job, and not something you can just put on some "pookie" ? to fix. A DIY'er or a novice can easily damage/crack/break those tiles and end up with a far worse problem. Hiring a tile roofer on a Saturday is the way I would go...providing one would undertake such a small job.
Regards
Gemstone1
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