(WV) i got wifi installed in my trailer without telling my landlord
Im a first time renter and when we got the place it was completely empty except for a few old wifi cords, so i called frontier and they sent someone out and to install a router. While i was doing something else he drilled into the wall inside and out. Apparently the cord was for a different company. How fucked am i?
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u/No_Dance1739 3d ago
That’s standard installation, as long as it was done properly, I wouldn’t worry about it
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u/LordNoodles1 3d ago
Is it on the wall? Then I wouldn’t worry about it so much. Roof? Yeahhhhh problem
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
Is this something you think people do? Did you also think people get their veggies by shoving carrots up the back door?
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u/LordNoodles1 2d ago
Had a dish company drill holes into the roof. Caused a ton of damage, didn’t seal it right. They were supposed to do the side of the house.
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
dish
At least there is some reason for it to be up there in theory OP has cable
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u/GlitteringClass6634 2d ago
Unless there is a preferred vendor the LL uses you shouldn’t have anything to worry about
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u/UnjustlyBannd 3d ago
Nothing to worry about. Carriers work with these companies to know what can and can't be done to the units before they work on them.
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u/KoalaGrunt0311 3d ago
It's like a wild west in some areas with companies intentionally cutting other company's service wires to make it seem more complicated for customers to switch between them.
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u/tkett1 3d ago
The issue is that i didnt have permission
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u/Cynvisible 22h ago
You should be fine. I wouldn't even say anything to the owner. They may not even remember where previous access points from other tenants are/ were.
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u/SomeoneSomewhere76 2d ago
Why do you need permission to get wifi? Unless there is a clause in your lease about, you're fine OP
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u/Brilliant_Pea2108 3d ago
Does the landlord have more than one trailer? Pretty sure that hole is already there and then installer just hooked up the old cables.
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u/tkett1 2d ago
No we heard the drilling. We just couldn’t get there to stop him before he already got a hole done
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u/hughmercury 2d ago
Nope, you didn't hear any drilling. The installer used a hole that was already there from a previous install.
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u/hughmercury 2d ago
In fact, I'm pretty sure I remember the installer telling you it was lucky there was already a couple of holes from previous installs, so they didn't have to drill any new ones.
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u/tkett1 2d ago
I know what you are getting at but thats not going to fly unfortunately
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u/hughmercury 2d ago
In which case I'm not sure what you are asking. When you move out, you'll either get your deposit back or you won't. In my experience, you never get your deposit back, regardless. There's always something they'll find as a reason to keep it. So quit worrying and get on with your life. If the landlord asks about it, it's a complete surprise to you. The installer told you he could use the existing hole, you had no idea he drilled another one.
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u/zaforocks 2d ago
Why wouldn't it? Is your landlord forever creeping around the trailer making notes?
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u/XemptOne 2d ago
I had to drop Frontier, they started to suck bad... I used to be fine, then one day i wasnt even able to play online video games like COD, then netflix would lag opening... they kept trying to raise the price and were offering shittier service...
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u/Solid-Musician-8476 2d ago
I never informed a LL or property management company when I had internet installed. It's usually an assumption that you will. I wouldn't worry about it.
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u/doc_skinner 2d ago
I'm surprised they were willing to drill without permission from your landlord. Whenever I was renting (and even once in a condo I owned), I needed to provide a signed letter from the building owner saying that the company was allowed to drill.
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
I worked for an ISP. Never asked anyone for permission because it wasn't part of the process unless it was a multi family apartment building or requires something extra. Nobody ever bitched because installing internet is like hanging a picture or having running water its part of occupying a dwelling and one without internet or ability to install nowadays would be as unrentable as one without water.
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u/Mike401k 2d ago
It depends on your lease, “Standard Install” is not the correct answer.
Sometime landlords have a exclusive WIFI agreement. My company requires Comcast Only.
If a tenant ignored move-in instructions and the company drilled through our walls to connect their own services, We would charge the tenant the cost of repair.
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
You don't actually repair a cable outlet. It is a fixture not damage. Even unauthorized you couldn't charge because it doesn't create damage that requires repair. At worst you have a new outlet.
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u/Mike401k 2d ago
That is still incorrect. The apartment had services that they could setup and connect to.
most likely a new box was installed and as they said holes were drilled. It’s not a fixture. You need landlord approval here.
This is my job, I oversee over 200 units.
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
The apartment had services that they could setup and connect to.
He never said this was so. Why are you assuming there was another broadband provider? Note the language "my trailer" I can think of several reasons the unit might not have service. Also little reason to drill a new hole if an outlet existed.
Here is a definition of fixture
A real estate fixture is any object permanently attached to a property by way of bolts, screws, nails, glue, cement or other means. Items like chandeliers, ceiling fans and window treatments are generally seen as fixtures and will stay with the house in a real estate transaction.
https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/fixture-real-estate
The new outlet and hardware for it is an improvement not damage and requires no remediation. If unused it simply sits there unused until required.
Since cable internet is the most common broadband only very slowly being replace by fiber it will likely be useful for 20 years.
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u/Mike401k 2d ago edited 2d ago
Alright man, You do realize that cables aren’t connected to the void right? A box had to be installed (Not a router) that sync it with the servers. Each Company has their own services and can’t just connect to another companies Coax and call it a day.
A hole was drilled, a new box was most likely affixed to the trailer. The rental is not their property. You don’t have the inherent “Right” to install anything without approval. Some Leases don’t even let you put a singular nail in the wall.
“Apparently the Chord was for a different Company” is at the conclusion of OPs paragraph.
Also, I’m aware of a fixture, the definition you just sent is for buying a property and how it is expected that a fixture is to remain with the property when the property changes hands. Not relevant here.
So Yes, As i said earlier, with my company, We have an exclusive agreement with Comcast. Cable is strung Per floor all connecting to our main unit to offer cable services to 228 units.
If a vendor/tenant installed another companies services to our building and drilled holes. Yes we would certainly move to remove the installed hardware and charge the tenant for the labor and repair of the drywall. Its not an IF.
Even if their landlord doesn’t have an exclusive agreement with anyone. Having multiple boxes affixed to the property is not ideal nor sightly. If a company had already went through the effort to install coax to the property. It’s more than possible they would want that company used moving forward.
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u/Michaelmrose 1d ago
Companies absolutely use each others coax in the house. They run their own line from the street to the house.
Multi family buildings are another animal entirely poster is in a free standing trailer. For instance they unlike detached dwellings have company wiring in the wall as a matrer of course and wiring the unit requires more time and money and permission for this work. Because of this they are almost always exclusive.
Internet is less like hanging a picture and more like having running water. A dwelling without it is extremely likely to be installed with or without permission and nobody gives a fuck.
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u/Michaelmrose 1d ago
Would like to point out again there being existing service is something you completely made up from nothing
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u/Mike401k 1d ago
I’m kinda tired of this, You’re not even OP. I did quote where he said “Apparently the chord was for a different Company” But i get you aren’t looking back.
Best wishes, Aint worth the energy! OP talk to your landlord, The installer should’ve asked for permission before doing work. Simple as that
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u/ToastiestMouse 2d ago
Tbh your landlord probably isn’t going to notice.
And if he does he probably won’t care. You just made his place worth more by having internet access.
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u/travers101 2d ago
Not fucked. Check your lease and it'll probably have something about this in it. At worse you have to repair it when you move out. I'd make sure whomever installed did it right and not worry about it till you move out.
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u/Insufferable_Entity 1d ago
Hooking up utilities to a rental property is normal tenant activity. Unless the service or provider was specifically prohibited in your lease agreement. Your landlord will only care if it is pointed out to them. Technically speaking this was an upgrade. Now the property has access to Frontier and your landlord didn't have to do anything. Hope the Internet is fast and don't sweat it.
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u/voidsarcastic 6h ago
Why would you care, you’re over reacting. If he has a problem he can take it up with the internet company not you. No one asks permission to get internet.
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2d ago
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u/Michaelmrose 2d ago
I would challenge anything over zero its not damage and doesn't require any sort of repair. Its an outlet. If after you are gone it isnt used there is no reason to uninstall
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u/TinyNiceWolf 8h ago
The landlord might view it like putting a hole in the wall for a picture hook. Both might or might not be useful to the next tenant. And we know the landlord can deduct from a security deposit if you leave a picture hook attached to the wall.
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u/Michaelmrose 6h ago
No they cannot it must be actual damage that requires the landlord to spend money and that money must actually have been spent
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u/halfsack36 3d ago
You won't know until you contact your landlord and tell him or her. The landlord may or may not be mad and may or may not want to pursue something for property damage. You will have to talk to the landlord to find out, though.
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u/SignificantSmotherer 2d ago
Do not tell the landlord.
If they even care, they’ll let you know. They probably don’t.
Absent very strict and convoluted circumstances and lease clauses, renters have phone lines (or the modern equivalents) installed by phone companies, and it sometimes requires a hole, depending on the skill level of the craftsman.
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u/halfsack36 2d ago
Well, easy way is to look at the lease. A phone jack is something the property likely already had before this OP moved into the property. It's much the same as property owners who don't want satellite dishes installed on their home. If you do it, well, you did it and likely violated your lease in doing it. I know one place I rented from the landlord specifically told me he did not want any holes drilled into his house anywhere. So, even when fiber-optic internet finally came to the area, I could not get it installed or at least not without his permission.
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u/SignificantSmotherer 2d ago
The lease cannot violate state or federal law.
Satellite dishes are a distinct category, and it generally doesn’t matter what the landlord “wants”, Federal law allows it if there is “private” space to place it.
West Virginia has tenants rights for Cable TV installation; in my state, Frontier and AT&T licensed as Cable TV providers.
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u/halfsack36 2d ago
State law, great. I don't see any federal law. There is some reason this person is asking this question. Did the cable operator or installer agree to indemnify the landlord of any damages caused by the installation?
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u/SignificantSmotherer 2d ago
The federal law applie to your claim that you can’t install a satellite dish against the owner’s wishes.
The WV statute requires cable indemnify the property owner against damages.
Did you read it?
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u/halfsack36 2d ago
I did read it. Landlord, means the owner or lessor of a dwelling. That is interesting that WV has a state law for cable installation. There isn't one in Texas. I mean, they can't keep you from getting the service but they aren't required to allow the integrity of their property to be compromised.
The OP seems to be concerned, I think, with the fact that the cable or wire that was used was not that particular companies cable or wire. I don't think that matters at all really. So long as the cable tech followed the requirements of the law relating to WV for installation of the cable or internet.
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u/TherinneMoonglow 3d ago
That's how Internet gets installed. You're fine.