
Your protections under the OTARD law
2018 has been a great year for over-the-air TV and, with the new 3.0 OTA standard on the horizon, your antenna is about to get better with free 4K over-the-air. Yet, we often hear that a homeowners’ association (HOA), or a similar group, attempts to block someone from installing an antenna on their condo or house. However, the OTARD (Over-the-Air Reception Devices) law is clear on this; you have every legal right to install an antenna, even on a condo, if you own it or have an exclusive use area of your rental property.
You may be interested to learn that the FCC’s OTARD law further prohibits most restrictions that an HOA might try to enforce, such as preventing installation, maintenance or use of an antenna, or unreasonably increasing the cost to do so.
The rule also applies to rental properties where the renter has an exclusive use area, like a balcony or patio. This includes condominium owners, co-op owners and tenants, townhomes, manufactured homes and single-family homes as well. The rule does not apply to common areas such as the roof or exterior walls of multi-dwelling units.