Renter Wants to Install Dish and Phone Jack

[Art Maydan]

I'm at work and my renter just texted me that AT&T is at my house and where can he put the dish. My wife and I live upstairs and he just moved in downstairs. He's asking if they can put a dish on OUR balcony or on the detached garage roof. I said he can put it on the garage if he pays for the cost of removing it and restoring the installation site once he leaves and he's saying "a lot of houses have them, it can just stay." I don't want a dish on my house. I use Comcast like a civilized human. What should I do in this scenario? My lease says, "The Tenant(s) shall, at their own expense and at all times, maintain premises in a clean and sanitary manner, and shall surrender the same at termination hereof, in as good condition as received, normal wear and tear excepted."

He also just texted me "I only noticed today that you have no phone jacks, is putting one in the kitchen ok?" I don't know why this guy wants a landline, but I don't want a hole in my house because he's living in the 90s. Am I right to just flat out say "No"? I've tried to be reasonable and allow his TV wall mount already, but nobody uses landlines and he can go buy a house if he wants and drill all the holes he wants. This guy makes 8x what I do and his lease is only 9 months. This is my first ever tenant and I feel like he's trying to push me around because he's twice my age.

Edit: Now he wants high speed internet jacks, which I didn't know required different jacks than the cable jacks we already have in every room. Is that reasonable to allow?

[Gail K.]

I've bought houses that have two or three of those darn dishes on the roofs.   About a year ago we removed one on a back portion of a roof we were replacing and I'll be darned when I was over there last week there was another one in the exact same spot drilled into the new shingles.

It's like the darn things grow from seeds.

And I've never, ever had a satellite provider contact me asking if I gave my permission to do this. 

If these are removed, keep the base (which often cannot be seen from the ground) and perhaps seal around it to prevent roof leaks.  Removing everything means you would them need to patch the holes the installer drilled into the shingles and wood underneath.

Gail

[Marelyn Valdes]

All dish companies have a hold harmless clause in their contracts, so if the installer screws up they aren't responsible.  A lot of installers are independent contractors, so you're lucky if you can make the installer repair or pay for damage.   My dish installer said it costs more to put it on a pole in the yard than on the roof, but they are not allowed to install over the living areas, just the eaves (guess it causes less damage when it leaks).  I have never had any company call me when they are installing a dish on my rentals - I just find them stuck on my roofs when the tenant moves.

[Jaclyn McClellan]

I would say yes to both, but make sure he understands the dish will not stay when he moves. That way you can have the dish removed, get him to sign something.

Also IN PERSON tell him that he can't be calling you when the men are already there to install things, everything needs to be approved by you before he calls any contractor or anything of that nature. Make sure that's clear.

The phone jacks should have been in the house already you're lucky to have someone willing to pay.

also, who cares about the dish if he pays to remove it? I think it's a reasonable accommodation for him to request.

[JD Martin]

If I find a Dish on any of my roofs, I promise the repair costs are coming out of the security deposit. The only proper way to repair is to pull the dish and the shingles underneath it (I have not once yet seen a dish mounted under the shingles with a flange), patch the drill holes with rubber roof underlayment, and replace the shingles with ones without holes in them. After the roofers repair the damage, and I pay them from the deposit, the tenant can sue the installer to recover the costs if they like. 

[Justin Stanfield]

When the cable people install dish on roofs, they screw it to the decking. They are too concerned with the getting the dish pointed in the right direction.  Anyway, the screws cut into the shingles, and then the decking.  

When they install the dish, here are a few things to keep in mind.  Try should try to cut into the decking without cutting into the drip edge on the edge of the roof.  There are advantages and disadvantages of putting the dish where are the starter shingles are.  However, please make sure they put sealant on all the nails of the dish and around the base of the dish.  They forget to do that.  

When they take the dish off, they need to replace the shingles, and the decking.  For that you will need a roofer, not a dish person.   Some roofers will take off the dish, and just replace the shingles, or worse just put on the sealant.  Make sure they do the job right.

As for the tenants, you can say no dish.  Or you can say dish is going to cost, for the take off.  Around $300-$400.

[Art Maydan]

I spoke with the tenant and gave him some alteration request forms. I said he can fill those out and put them in my mailbox and if I approve it, then I’ll write up an addendum. Both docs say that the alteration will be professionally done and undone before vacating at tenant’s expense and if both parties agree, it stays. I had him sign an addendum for the dish. I’ll need to decide whether I want it to stay. I think he’ll be a good tenant once he’s settled in, so I don’t regret making some accommodations. And a lot of the houses on the block have dishes, so maybe it would be a desirable thing for a future tenant.

I think the alteration request form will help to prevent me getting texts at work. I might need to move to a no texting policy altogether. They can send me an email unless it’s an emergency. Then I need to spell out what is and isn’t an emergency… I’m trying to build systems that will scale past house hacking.

[Frederic Bull]

For high speed internet there are two considerations.  The first is the medium that gets the internet there, typically a coaxial cable (like for cable TV) or a phone line (for DSL).  That connects to a modem, and in order to connect more than one device to the modem, or if you want to use wireless, you need a network.  Running cable (or phone line) to one spot, or every room, may work for 100% wireless networks, assuming the wireless router can connect up to the modem in that location (the router is your 'network'), but if you want wired ports (and there is certainly good reason to want wired ports, I would), those have to be run using CAT 5 or CAT 6 (preferable) UTP/STP cable with RJ 45 terminations.  They basically look like oversized phone connections and cords. You don't have to run them in the walls, but that network cabling portion sounds like what the tenants are asking for. Or they could just have no clue how any of this works and be asking for nonsense.  Regardless of what you do, the modem and router would never be a landlord responsibility.

[Karl B.]

When I bought my single family house in L.A. I had THREE Dish Network dishes on my roof (and an old, five-foot rusted-out TV antenna). 

I would never let a dish be installed on one of my rental properties - partially because I detest Dish Network and partially because it's 2016 and online streaming is both cheaper and better. 

The phone jack isn't an issue as long as it was installed correctly. I use Magic Jack, myself, as I don't like talking on a cell phone while at home.

To the OP - It's your home and your choice - don't do something you don't want to do just because the tenant pushes you to do it. I know it's already been done but there's always next time.