The Best Excuse Not to Watch TV (an even better reason not to pay for it)
The Florida Condominium Act authorizes condominium associations to enter into contracts for community antenna systems or cable television services. The statute provides that the cost of the service is to be a common expense allocated on a per-unit basis rather than on a percentage basis as are other common expenses of condominiums. In those instances where the contracts were entered into prior to July 1, 1998 (the effective date of the statute), if the contracts did not provide for an equal division of the charges among all of the unit owners, the unit owners may change the allocation by a vote of the majority of the voting interests present at a regular or special meeting of the association.
A little known and rarely used section of the Condominium Act requires that television service contracts contains language that allows hearing impaired or legally blind owners to be relieved from paying the common expense attributable to the television service. If a hearing-impaired or legally blind unit owner who does not occupy the unit with a non-hearing impaired or sighted person desires to avoid the television expense, the owner may discontinue the service without incurring any disconnect fees, penalties or service charges.
In order for a unit owner to avoid the cable charges, he must demonstrate that he is legally blind or hearing impaired as defined by the Florida Administrative Code. According to Section 61B-23.0051, "legally blind" means a person having central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with corrective glasses or otherwise with a disqualifying field defect as described more specifically in the Code. "Hearing Impaired" means an individual who has suffered permanent hearing impairment and is not able to discriminate speech sounds in verbal communication with or without the assistance of amplification devices or an individual who has suffered permanent hearing impairment which is severe enough to necessitate the use of amplification devices to discriminate speech sounds and verbal communication.
According to the Florida Administrative Code, a legally blind or hearing impaired unit owner seeking to discontinue cable television service under the provisions of the Condominium Act is required to provide proof to the Association's Board of Directors of his visual or hearing impairment. The Association is required to accept as proof of the impairment a statement attesting to such impairment from a licensed physician, audiologist, or speech pathologist, a State certified teacher of the visually impaired or the hearing impaired or an appropriate State or Federal agency. While the statute does not limit the ability of the Association to accept only those forms of evidence as proof of the impairment, a prudent Board would require at least one of those items to assure that the individuals seeking the exception from the cable television service charges is, in fact, entitled to the exemption. Since the other unit owners may have to pay an increased charge to cover those who are not paying, the Board of Directors will want to make sure that only those who are actually entitled to an exemption are relieved from the obligation.
