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?

[Oren K.]

Art - Sorry but getting wired services (television, phone, internet) vs. wireless is not an unreasonable request as the quality and reliability of the services is simply better. He should have asked / noted the missing jacks / connection points before he moved in but I also have to say I'm surprised that they are not there. Did you recently remodel / rehab the place and simply not put them in? If so, you should make a point of making people aware when showing the place.

I do have a slight issue with the dish and agree that on move-out, removing it and repairing should be at their expense.

[Art Maydan]

@Oren K. So you're saying allow the phone jack? Almost nobody uses landlines for personal use. That's a useless hole in my wall. Yes, the house was a gut rehab. It was a SFR converted to a duplex.

I didn't know high speed internet requires a separate jack. We got Xfinity upstairs just fine with the cable jack. My issue is largely with how he's handling asking me. I'm at work and he just texted me that I have an AT&T installer at my house. I'm putting processes into place. I'm making a property alteration request form and he can send any alteration requests through that. If approved, I can make a lease addendum. And I'll say I have 3 business days to process the form. The form will have a space for the proposed alteration and will say it has to be professionally done at the tenant's expense and that at move out, they either pay to professionally restore the alteration to previous condition or it becomes my property if we both want it to. Does that sound right?

[Russ M.]

The satellite provider should be able to provide a pole that is put into the ground that is not attached to the building.  This is what they have done at our buildings (4 families).  No attaching to building at all.  

I agree with @Oren K. about the availability of the phone jacks.  Many people maintain land lines and cell phones. 

[Account Closed]

Usually all satellite providers require a permission form signed by the landlord . I agree that Ethernet jacks and a landline request is very reasonable plus if your not paying for it it adds value.

[Jeff B.]

Believe it or not, smartphones have not been adopted by 100% of the world and even many dislike them and actually opt for the landline - - especially seniors.  The tenant needs access to phone services and it's not our place to assist AT&T or any other provide with their marketing of cellular service.

IMO, it was a big mistake to obliterate all phone jack plates and a few should have been retained in the rehab.  You need to provide phone service for all tenants - - how can the dial 911 without it?  Perhaps you're lucky and can the tenant to bear the landline install expense.

Highspeed DSL over landlines does not require anything special other than the service.

Most households want TV and over-the-air service is dead today so you need to consider the Dish - - raises the question, How do YOU get TV?

I don't care for the look of the dish either, but that's life today.

[Art Maydan]

@Jeff B. OK so sounds like people are saying landline is a good move. He wants it in the kitchen. Is that a good spot for it? He also wants to put the high speed internet socket in the kitchen. Is that fine or is that a safety hazard?

[Oren K.]

@Art Maydan - OK so we are now separating process from personal preferences.

I agree with you, that calling you out of the blue and saying ' a service person is here and where can I put it' is not acceptable. Someone else failing to plan, is not your emergency. Any accommodation you make, if possible, is goodwill and just being a good person.

With respect to where to put a phone line; the depends how far you are going to go. Most units have a connection in the kitchen, living room and each bedroom. Alternatively, you provide 1 connection point somewhere central and the installer will run wiring along / under the baseboard (going under carpets or around doorways to cross hallways) to where each plugs are needed.

Personally I have a base phone station connected at a wired location in the living room and then use cordless phones for the rest of my place (office, bedroom, etc).

High Speed Internet if not pre-wired (and usually not in older places), usually is provided via the cable or phone service provider via a splitter from the main connection point. One branch will go to a modem box that provides just ethernet or to a box that combines modem and router and switch.

Leaving this stuff out when already doing a gut rehab is not a good idea and can be costly to retrofit; Live and learn. Depending on what happens, as this is only a 9 month tenant, you should make sure you point out to any future tenants, what is and is NOT in place.

Good luck,

Oren

[Max T.]

No to the dish.

Yes to the jacks - professionally installed and at his expense.

[Art Maydan]

@Oren K. Why no to the dish?

[Bill Gulley]

Check with FCC regulations, actually it's yes to both, tenant's expense and removal. Landlords may not refuse residential tenants of commerce in communications or require any certain provider.

Actually, landlines in an emergency can be more efficient communication, have a tornado coming your way and see if you can call granny on your smartphone, "due to heavy volumes of traffic your call cannot be completed at this time, please try again later"!  

Your tenant saves money on the TV and internet bundle with a landline. 

I suggest the dish be mounted with a side mount off the facia of the garage and not in the roof!

The telephone wire can come up through the floor at the edge of the base trim and you can use a small block of wood to attach the plug to, then use double face tape to attach the block to the base board if you don't want any holes. You might hear the installer crying about common installation practices but it's your house. Wall phones can come out of door trim to the side, similar arrangement. :)

[Victor N.]

I wouldn'tallow a dish on the roof. Everything else improves your property for the next tenant

[Art Maydan]

@Victor N. Apparently it's illegal not to according to the FCC. I had him put it on the garage roof. It was already installed when @Bill Gulley suggested the side mount. That'll teach me to have processes in place before people move in...

Does what I wrote earlier about the alteration approval form followed by lease addendum sound right?

[Deanna McCormick]

Dish you don't have to let a dish be installed permanently they can put it in a bucket on a pole, or use a temporary clamp to hold it to the building. 

Phone Jacks,, If he's on first floor more that likely wires can be run in the basement and up thru the floor to the spot in a closet floor where you can slide the wire up thru and out the opposite side of the closet to mount a jack, in that room and do likewise for other locations, .. I'd continue with the wires right up thru the ceiling of the closet and get the 2nd floor wired seperately with at least 1 phone jack up there, so if you move you'd have that done. 

You probably already have a phone panel connection jack thing in the basement or outside on side of house so usually if you have Comcast ask them to come out and wire for phone,  and sign up for minimum phone service so the install is free...

You are not required to give more than one source for internet cable to your tenants so your not required to provide them the alternate of a dish unless your state landlord codes stipulate that.

[Mindy Jensen]

@Art Maydan , my husband works from home, and has to call in for conference calls frequently. Not all numbers will allow cell calls to go through them - I have no idea why.

Our "landline" is MagicJack, which plugs into an outlet rather than having a new phone jack installed.

It is VOIP, so internet is necessary for the phone to work. It's also ridiculously cheaper than a traditional landline - $35 a year. 

[Colton S.]

Honestly, I don't understand the need for a phone line. But that's just me. When purchasing our house, not a single house we looked at had these installed except the ones with old school alarm systems.

[Thomas S.]

I see this is the same guy you asked about the TV mount. It was a mistake on your part to allow it. It is clear you have a pita tenant that is never going to stop asking for changes if you do not simply say no to all his requests.

I would not allow the dish, you are not going to get him to repair when he leaves. As for the jacks it is reasonable to allow one. I would hire a contractor to do the insulation to my standards and bill the tenant. Make it clear to him he is not to ask for any additional changes. You will need to do regular inspections as he will likely not ask and simply do as he chooses in the future. This tenant is a potentially bigger problem that you probably realise.

[Evan Jarvis]

I have a clause in my standard lease for single family homes that specifically disallows installation of satellite dishes on the roof.

If he insists on having satellite have him mount it on a pole or side mount.  At his expense.  With prior notice and not by calling you when AT&T is at your house without your knowledge.

You should probably allow the landline, but make sure you get to pick the contractor or do it yourself.  It's pretty standard and could be considered a reasonable request.

[JD Martin]

If it's not too late, DO NOT allow any dishes on the roof. These installers are notoriously low-skilled. We allow Dish at residences but it has to be on a removable pole in the yard. The request for a land line is not unreasonable, but there are non-intrusive ways of running them. I am surprised your house is not already wired for land line - is it new? 

[JD Martin]

OK, apparently I'm a dollar short here since it's now already mounted to the roof. Bad idea. I would have the Dish company come back, repair the roof and mount it as mentioned, and if they don't want to, ask them to see the written authorization you gave for them to attach something to your property. I would almost bet money that the Dish is mounted straight through the shingles, maybe (if you're lucky) with a little caulk around the bolts. 

As for land lines, you have a jack or two installed at the baseboard in the living room and maybe one in the master bedroom, and call it a day. Cheap, easy, no holes in walls, wire hidden along baseboard. 

[Matthew King]

I had a dish on my roof one time and it notoriously leaked.  When it was removed there had to be roof repair work done.  

But for Ethernet jacks, I know of no older home with jacks ran through out unless done so by a home owner for personal use.  Surely you aren't saying houses require that?

[Ryan Dossey]

I just want to point out that I really enjoyed this: 

"I use Comcast like a civilized human."

Is it possible for him to get Comcast as well? 

[Colleen F.]

Dish you have to allow but you don't have to let them put it on the roof. Warning-if you have a dish on the roof do not say oh it's ok because the dish is already there, the cable company... the exact same cable company ...put a second dish on the roof of my rental. Idiots! Charge the tenant for removing if it goes on the roof.

Landline-I have one and would allow. This assures us of a line if the electricity goes out. The reason we need a line if the electricity goes out is  because that is the line that calls us when the electricity goes out. Now if you share electricity with lots of other people who will report an outage to your electric company good for you, we don't so if we are not home it helps to have the landline since internet phones and cell phones depend on electricity.

[Jeff B.]

Originally posted by @Art Maydan:

@Jeff B. OK so sounds like people are saying landline is a good move. He wants it in the kitchen. Is that a good spot for it? He also wants to put the high speed internet socket in the kitchen. Is that fine or is that a safety hazard?

 No hazards for either.  I relate to my own usage;  phone in the kitchen for access when cooking; another in the room where the TV is located as don't like to 'run for the phone'.  Personally, I use a cordless phone (not wifi) and have a master and three slaves located about the house - - again, don't like to run for the phone.

HS DSL location?? Where ever the Internet would be accessed most frequently.

As long as they are paying for the install, just smile and tell'm yes :)

[Alonzo Ramirez]

What a pain... yeah I hate seeing a useless dish sticking from my roof.. I've called Dish Network to come and take it off but apparently, when I purchased the house, I also inherited the Dish. Did I mention I hate the stupid thing?
I'd get the dish removed ASAP and placed on a pole as mentioned or clamped; respectfully.

[Alejandro Herryman]

Art Maydan what about including cable and Internet to you tenants? Charge a fee and give them access to your Internet or just pay extra for Internet. You can also add how you want this to be done in the contract for your future tenants.

Lastly, if you are going to let the tenant add phone jacks and Dish, make sure you collect a fee for removing the dish today. Don't wait for him to do it himself before leaving.

Or raise the rent $25 a month for the inconvenience.

Also, make sure the technician installs everything professionally. Many times they do a poor job at it and when you realize everything looks horrible and the cables just hang everywhere.

Make sure you are nice but firm. Train your tenants.

Good luck!