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My neighbor demands that I remove the cable

Pepsei

Pepsei

Lifer
My neighbor demands that I "call an electrician" to remove a Verizon phone cable from the telephone pole, "or else, [he'll] call the city on [me]". I don't have a Land Line, so it must be leftover from the previous owners of my house. I told him to do whatever he wants with the cable because I don't own it, I don't feel comfortable touching it, cutting it, or otherwise manipulating it. I informed him that it is a phone line that I am not using, and he's welcome to contact Verizon if the portion that extends beyond my yard to the pole is bothering him. (I don't think anyone really owns Verizon cables except Verizon.)

Anyway, he's not happy because the line is hanging on his carport and he wants it removed so he can have some treework done. He told me yesterday, and his removal deadline is April 1st, 2009.


Is this my responsibility to handle?


crude map (my house to the left)

link


edit : fixed map by adding . (grass)
edit2: remove crappy text map, added crude paint map


final edit 3
got a fast response from verizon...which i didn't expect, (reason i posted here too)

The phone line is responsibility of the utility that put it in, and it and the pole it is on are almost guaranteed to be part of an easement on the deed that specifically allows utilities services access to your property and/or anyone elses. Telephone, cable, gas, water, and electricity are public utilities that are generally franchised by the city, the deed for the property probably contains an easement provision to permit line,pipe and other necessary utility access. In short, usually any utility line has a legal right to exist almost anywhere the utility wants to place it. Whether you are actually using it or not is not relevant. The external wiring is the property of the utility company, they generally have a legal right to have it on your property or anyone elses.

Nothing you can or should do about it. Telco companys have right to that wiring to be there. You can put a request to have it removed/etc but that is about it. If it bothers him that much, have him call us and we'll tell him the same thing.
Click to expand...

i'm going to print it out and hand it to him.

thanks atot.



 
lol sounds like a dumbass looking for something to complain about. I would not even touch it or call verizon. Let him do it, and just watch he does not start screwing with other cables such as your electrical or cable TV if it's also above ground.
 
If it's registered to the house, I think it is your responsibility.

Either way, let him call the city. They'll come out, you tell them what's up, they see the neighbor is a douche, you win.
 
April Fool's day joke?

edit: Also, I believe the line itself is owned by the telephone company, not the homeowner. You own any telephone lines inside your house, but from the drop to the house is actually owned by Verizon. Thus, its removal by someone other than Verizon or someone approved by Verizon may actually constitute theft.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
April Fool's day joke?

edit: Also, I believe the line itself is owned by the telephone company, not the homeowner. You own any telephone lines inside your house, but from the drop to the house is actually owned by Verizon. Thus, its removal by someone other than Verizon or someone approved by Verizon may actually constitute theft.
Click to expand...

This
 
Just call verizon and tell them you have a line down in your yard. It'll be tough, because you don't have a landline phone number, and they're morons, but perhaps after enough explaining, they'll understand the concept of addresses enough to send a crew out to yours. When they get there, say, oh, yeah, it was hanging really low and my neighbors been swinging a chainsaw around it from time to time, thought maybe you could do something about it. See what happens.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
April Fool's day joke?

edit: Also, I believe the line itself is owned by the telephone company, not the homeowner. You own any telephone lines inside your house, but from the drop to the house is actually owned by Verizon. Thus, its removal by someone other than Verizon or someone approved by Verizon may actually constitute theft.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right to me.

OP, maybe you should demand he get his carport out from under your phone line 😛
 
He's the one that needs it moved, he can do the legwork. It might be your responsibility to pay for it depending on how the assessment comes out, but I wouldn't do his calling for him.
 
Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
If it's on his property he has a right to ask you to remove it.
Click to expand...

Not exactly...

If the line is put in by a utility, he may have (or a previous owner) may have agree'd to the easement to have utility lines across and touching his property. It may be a part of the deed to the property, or in a contract to provide utility services to his house.

Anyway, to the OP, you can let him deal with it, but I would contact the Utility company (Verizon) that ran/owns the cable, don't let him cut it down if it belongs there. You never know if the Utility/verizon wil charge you to reinstall a line from the Pole (no matter how much you think you're not going to need it in the future)...
 
If it's like every other utility contract I've seen, the pole belongs to Verizon or some other utility company (Verizon may be licensing the use of the pole from someone else; this is common). If you touch it, you're liable for any resultant damages and/or outages, plus possible civil or criminal penalties. Your responsibility doesn't begin until the utility stubs into your house.

Easement or not, it's not your problem. Even if there is no easement, the utility that owns the pole has violated his rights, not you. If he's having tree work done, his landscaper should contact the city to determine who owns the pole and take care of it. It's really not that different than 'calling before you dig', it's just up not down.

Oh, and your neighbor's a douche.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
April Fool's day joke?

edit: Also, I believe the line itself is owned by the telephone company, not the homeowner. You own any telephone lines inside your house, but from the drop to the house is actually owned by Verizon. Thus, its removal by someone other than Verizon or someone approved by Verizon may actually constitute theft.
Click to expand...

Correct.
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
April Fool's day joke?

edit: Also, I believe the line itself is owned by the telephone company, not the homeowner. You own any telephone lines inside your house, but from the drop to the house is actually owned by Verizon. Thus, its removal by someone other than Verizon or someone approved by Verizon may actually constitute theft.
Click to expand...

Yep, same here in NC too. (I would think it's like that everywhere. We don't need homeowners climbing up a pole to handle the cable to their house).

Let him call the city 'on you'. Big woop. I'm sure they'll set him straight

If you're feeling 'nice', tell him a better idea is to call Verizon 'on you'.

Fern
 
It's not your problem. That's between him and Verizon, and his ultimatum would have ensured 0 cooperation from me.
 
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