Q: We recently bought a condo unit on the top floor of a three-story building. The association provides cable TV to each unit, but we prefer satellite TV service.
The association does not allow satellite dishes on the common elements. But next to our back door is a wooden porch that is part of the back stairs to the ground level.
Are we entitled to install a satellite dish on the back porch?
A: Federal law, through the Federal Communications Commission, allows condominium associations to prohibit satellite dishes on the common elements; however, FCC regulations allow residents to install a satellite dish on their exclusive-use area, subject to the board’s ability to adopt reasonable safety rules and/or dish-camouflaging rules.
FCC regulations also allow an association to prohibit a resident from installing a satellite dish on their exclusive-use area if the association offers the same satellite services at the equivalent cost and quality the resident could get from a satellite dish provider.
In a condominium context, an exclusive-use area equates to a limited common-element area, commonly balconies, terraces or decks. The issue is whether the back porch is a limited common element so defined in the declaration or a common-element porch system. If the porch is part of the common elements, a resident may not affix a satellite dish to the porch.
Merely because a unit’s back door leads to a porch does not make the porch an exclusive-use area for the unit.
Q: I recently moved into a town home community in the suburbs. In 2010, the original developer lost the project, and the association’s remaining unsold units were taken over by the developer’s lender, who then sold the units to another developer.
There have been only three board meetings since 2010. What are the requirements for a community association to hold board meetings and annual meetings?
A: In addition to a community association’s declaration and bylaws, community associations are governed by the Common Interest Community Association Act. Section 1-30 of the act requires an association board to meet at least four times annually. Section 1-40 requires an annual meeting to elect a board of directors.
Q: Our condominium association has a contract for bulk-service cable and Internet on a fixed monthly cost per unit. Several unit owners work from home and have demanded that the board increase the Internet service bandwidth because they are dissatisfied with the Internet speed for their uses.
Does a condominium association have an obligation to provide commercial-level Internet services for unit owners?
A: Section 18.4(o) of the Condominium Act allows a board, in its sole discretion, to buy cable television or Internet service in bulk for the units on an equal-cost-per-unit basis.
The cost of bulk service is substantially less on a per-unit basis than unit owners buying cable and Internet as an individual.
The number of cable television stations and/or speed of the Internet in the bulk-service agreement is within the discretion of the board for what it determines to be in the best interest of all unit owners, not a handful of unit owners.
Simply, the board is not obligated to provide a certain minimum number of stations or Internet speed.
As a practical matter, unit owners are always given the option by the service provider to buy premium cable stations and/or higher-speed Internet at their own cost.
