Ask Me Help Desk - Illegal cable and more?

Can you have cable TV from one base source and run it through all tenants apts? My neighbor recently asked if I were messing with the cable wires as all of them run along the bedroom wall. He said the whole building is wired "funny". Sure enough, he fixed his cable problem in my apt! Also, Sprint won't put in phone, they said I live in the garage and there is no hookups. There are 3 apts in building, facing alley, only house that faces this way. The real address is on the front side of the house, which is vacant and on another street. I looked for this property in the state records, there is no house on my street! This was the garage, additions were put on to make apts, but apparently nobody was informed. If I know the landlord is pirating cable, and I don't turn it in, can I get in deep trouble too? Apparently my neighbor knows something I don't... I have kids, single mom, I don't want problems with the law

Of course the honorable thing to do would be to call the cable company and inform them that you have cable in your unit that you never ordered. What they do with it from there is their problem.

Outside of that, we've had all kinds of crazy wiring, splitters, blah, blah, blah (I don't really understand any of that stuff)at various properties over the years. I don't keep any track of who has what type of cable/phone/etc. All I've ever know the cable companies to do is shut service off if they discover someone has service they're not paying for. If you had illegal equipment or something that may be a different story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rezuom

can you have cable tv from one base source and run it through all tenants apts? my neighbor recently asked if i were messing with the cable wires as all of them run along the bedroom wall. he said the whole building is wired "funny". sure enough, he fixed his cable problem in my apt! also, Sprint wont put in phone, they said i live in the garage and there is no hookups. there are 3 apts in building, facing alley, only house that faces this way. the real address is on the front side of the house, which is vacant and on another street. i looked for this property in the state records, there is no house on my street! this was the garage, additions were put on to make apts, but apparently nobody was informed. if i know the landlord is pirating cable, and i dont turn it in, can i get in deep trouble too? apparently my neighbor knows something i dont.........i have kids, single mom, i dont want problems with the law

I used to work for a contractor for Charter and Comcast. The 'fine and up to a year in jail' thing doesn't really get enforced unless you get caught multiple times. The first time they catch someone, they may not even do more than just disconnect them, because it could be left on from a previous tenant. If they do anything, they will just come up to the house, call you, or send you a letter than says the cable service to the address was disconnected because it shouldn't have been hooked up. Sometimes, they say that they'll fine you if they find it again, but not normally. I've never seen either charter OR comcast take any legal action against anyone on a first offence.

That being said, you can call the cable company and let them know what's going on. It's very easy for customer service to put a note in the account, and to set up what they call an 'audit', where they check to make sure everyone connected to that spot on the street is legal. As long as you call in, you'll be in the clear. It might be a good idea just to let them know either way.