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Cable Installers


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2010 May 5, 7:25am   2,330 views  11 comments

by vain   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Do cable TV installers have a fiduciary duty to report illegal dwelling units to the city? I would think that it may be part of the contract with the city as they are using their utility poles.

I've have 3 friends who recently had their property inspected by the city inspectors for an illegal in-law rental unit. All 3 had tenants there for a while, but when new tenants moved in, they subsequently had cable TV installed under their own name. The next day they receive a notice that a city inspector needs to check out the home.

I think I've narrowed it down to the cable guys because I don't see why the neighbors would have complained now since they've had previous tenants for a while.

Comments 1 - 11 of 11        Search these comments

1   mikey   2010 May 5, 8:10am  

Cities need revenue. Could they be looking for code violations to fine owners? Or has the city been sued lately because of the death of someone living in a illegally converted garage? Many garages contain gas water heaters, and might have venting problems which could leak deadly carbon monoxide. Some gas boilers never get safety inspected but should be to avoid fires. Earthquake strapping is also required in many areas, along with temperature and pressure relief valves. Older boilers may be in violation of codes.
Section 8 renters will trigger a health and safety inspection before they can move in.
Also, I have read that the city El Monte, Calif is trying to keep tabs on illegal additions due to problems with square footage assessments and property appraisals, not to mention the earthquake issues with shoddy construction.

2   vain   2010 May 5, 8:27am  

It just seems really shady to me for San Bruno Municipal Cable company to come install cable for a tenant, charge them $50 for the installation, and report the illegal in-law unit. Why did they even continue to install knowing that the unit will be demolished? The cable was subsequently cancelled.

I am not positive they are the ones that reported it, but it makes complete sense. Two of the 3 notice of violations issued were the following day after the cable guy went into the units to install cable.

3   mikey   2010 May 5, 11:00am  

If the unit looks like it needs demolished than the cable guy may have been concerned about the tenants. Working class hero stuff: Boss man slumlord needs to be taught a lesson. Probably a busybody bleeding heart liberal. No offense to my lefty peeps.
You put a roof over somebody's head and they want to nail you to a cross. Now those tenants will wind up living in a relative's or friends garage with no heat and have to pee in a bucket.

4   vain   2010 May 5, 11:08am  

mikey says

Now those tenants will wind up living in a relative’s or friends garage with no heat and have to pee in a bucket.

This is exactly what happened. Well not really, one person it happened to is a co-worker. She was the renter and was evicted. She's so frustrated about how hard it is to find a place to live around here in the Bay Area, she decided to resign her job and move back home to Oregon.

And no, the unit didn't look like it needed to be demolished. It was actually remodelled before she had moved in (paint, carpet, granite counters).

5   mikey   2010 May 5, 11:35am  

Well. alas, the bay area is a Marxist stronghold. No offense to my pinko peeps. Landowners are despised. You ain't got a Chinaman's chance to get a fair shake.

6   Â¥   2010 May 5, 11:37am  

mikey says

You put a roof over somebody’s head and they want to nail you to a cross. Now those tenants will wind up living in a relative’s or friends garage with no heat and have to pee in a bucket.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA had a 10% 4Q09 rental vacancy rate so don't give me that bullshit.

7   Â¥   2010 May 5, 11:42am  

mikey says

Well. alas, the bay area is a Marxist stronghold. No offense to my pinko peeps. Landowners are despised. You ain’t got a Chinaman’s chance to get a fair shake.

I have no moral problem with owners getting a capital return on their undepreciated fixed improvements. That's great, capitalism in action. Sheer rentierism, however, is a dysfunctional, parasitical form of capitalism that has been rife in the bay area since the 1970s when RE rents went up but existing RE debts did not. Prop 13 then sealed the deal, of course.

When living in the flats of El Cerrito, across from Central Part in the mid-70s, the LL was Chinese.

Google Maps

Nice little income property, wouldn't mind owning it, LOL.

8   mikey   2010 May 5, 12:13pm  

Whoops. I'm afraid my post was a freak occident.
But speaking of Chinese, I used to have two cute Chinese neighbors, Terry and Suzie Yaki. They were small fries but boy could they wok on the wild side and stir things up. They really knew their way around a noodle and that's my mein point. I know this is a saucy thing to mention but soy what?
They loaded up their won ton truck and left a while back. My bad fortune but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

9   vain   2010 May 5, 12:43pm  

Troy says

mikey says

You put a roof over somebody’s head and they want to nail you to a cross. Now those tenants will wind up living in a relative’s or friends garage with no heat and have to pee in a bucket.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA had a 10% 4Q09 rental vacancy rate so don’t give me that bullshit.

The homes in the Santa Clara county are a bit different. You either rent out the whole home or nothing. Then there are flats/apartments. I don't think many people really convert a garage into a living unit. Just the ground level of their homes. They will still have a garage.

But if we talk about a city like San Francisco - if all illegal in-law units were demolished, it would be a big problem as there won't be enough units.

10   elliemae   2010 May 5, 2:14pm  

It's real possible that the cable installer reported - there may be financial incentives for them to do so, or it might be a requirement that the company's installers report such things. But it also might be a self-righteous asshole working for the cable company who's "going rogue." (couldn't resist, my apologies...)

11   vain   2010 May 6, 7:28am  

Such scum. They charged for an installation without the customer knowing it won't be of use to them.

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