As part of the changeover to digital television, which are responsible for cost of adapting a TV antenna?
As part of a lease governed by Law No. 89-461 of July 6, 1989, it seems that the answer to this question differs depending on the nature of the leased property.
1) With respect to apartment buildings
In this case, it is up to the landlord, property owner, or Condominium Corporation represented by its trustee, to make the necessary adjustments on the antenna collective. En indeed, it seems possible that the tenant only intervene on ‘antenna of the building.
In this context and in the absence of case law have been made on this issue to date, it appears that the cost of adaptation is recoverable from the tenant under the Section 2 of Act No. 66-457 of July 2, 1966 and the Article 3 of Decree No. 67-1171 of 22 December 1967 .
Indeed, Article 2 of the Act of July 2, 1966 allows the owner landlord who installed an antenna to ask each user agreeing to connect to the antenna, as connection charges and use, a share of the costs of installation, maintenance and replacement.
Note however that the Court of Cassation seems to deny the recovery of expenditure in the absence of agreement the tenant to be connected to the antenna.
2)For a house
Article 6 of Law No. 89-462 of July 6, 1989 obliges the lessor to maintain in good operating condition that the only pieces of equipment mentioned in the lease.
Therefore, if the presence of the antenna is not specified in the lease or to the inventory entry, it is for the tenant to proceed or to proceed by a professional, the necessary adjustments on the antenna.
But if the antenna is specified in the lease or the inventory entry, the lessor will be required to make the necessary adjustments on the antenna. Now here comes the tricky question of the possibility for the lessor to pass on the cost of the tenant.
Indeed, Article 2 of the Act of July 2, 1966 applies only to community antenna and Decree No. 87-713 of 26 August 1987 does not cover the cost of adapting an antenna in the list of recoverable charges.
Therefore, lack of legal basis and while the solution seems paradoxical, it does not seem possible, as part of a house, a tenant to recover the cost of antenna matching in the context of digital switchover.