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Cable TV is ruled an essential utility
CONCORD, Oct 31, 2009 (The Telegraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
No matter how mad he or she might be, your landlord isn't allowed to deprive you of your MTV.
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that cable television is a protected utility under state law, meaning landlords cannot cut the entertainment cord during landlord-tenant disputes. The ruling is similar to the ban that says landlords cannot shut off electricity or heat during such disputes to forcibly evict tenants.
Judy Nesset, head of the Nashua chapter of the New Hampshire Property Owners Association, disagreed with the ruling and said cable is clearly an amenity, not a utility.
"I don't understand why cable would be a necessity," Nesset said. "Cable TV a necessity? I don't think so."
The court, in a unanimous ruling, sided with Christopher Lally, who faced eviction last year. He was renting an apartment on a month-to-month basis from Lauren Flieder. The pair did not have a lease and, in June 2008, they agreed he would move out at the end of August.
On July 31, Lally paid for August and told Flieder he wasn't moving until the following summer. She gave him an eviction notice that day requiring him to leave by the end of August.
Lally stayed. On Sept. 2, Flieder filed paperwork seeking unpaid rent and a court order for Lally to move out. Six days later, she ended his cable TV service.
Lally petitioned a judge, accusing Flieder of trying to carry out what's known as a self-help eviction, which is illegal in most states. Flieder argued the cable provider told her the apartment was receiving the service through an illegal connection, so she disconnected a wire. The judge sided with Flieder and ruled that cable TV was not a protected utility.
The Supreme Court reversed that decision Friday.
"In view of legislative history and widespread use of cable television as a utility service, we conclude that the unlawful termination of cable television by a landlord is the type of self-help tactic that the legislature intended to prevent," the ruling states. "Indeed, many people access essential telephone service, the Internet, news information and entertainment by way of cable," the court wrote.
"Thus, the unlawful termination of a tenant's cable television service would be a means of accomplishing a self-help eviction -- the very evil the Legislature meant to deter."
Nesset, who owns Bishop Real Estate Management and oversees about 115 units in Nashua, said it is very rare for a landlord to provide cable as part of a lease. The only owners that do, she said, are at extended-stay motels and the like where tenants aren't expected to stay for more than a month.
"When we have units we rent out and we include utilities, that does not include cable TV," she said.
She said she has never heard of a landlord shutting off cable that a tenant was paying for.
"I have never heard of that happening in my life," she said.
The law states no landlord shall cause the interruption or termination of any utility service to a tenant, "including, but not limited to water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, sewerage, elevator or refrigeration," except for repairs or temporary emergencies.
The Supreme Court ruling states that cable television is "comparable" in that it pertains to the "habitability of a dwelling and a person's well-being," and therefore should be considered a protected utility.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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