DirecTV's advertised policy is that you leave the dish and wiring in place when you move, and they will install new ones at your new home for free. That way, when the next resident moves in to the old place, the dish and wiring are already in place.
In fact, when we moved in May, they came out to the new house and replaced the old 2-LNB dish on the new house with a new 5-LNB dish and installed additional wiring for my new HD receiver. And told me to keep the 2-LNB dish they had just uninstalled. It lives in my Motorhome now. The only thing they charged me for was the new HD DVR.
I'm not exactly sure what you've written but here's the deal with DirecTV:
There are two avenues for getting equipment such as receivers and dishes: 1) you can buy it direct at Circuit City (or other distributors similar to it like Best Buy or a bunch of places online). If you do, you own the equipment. 2) you can get free from a multitude of sources but if you do there will be a minimum service agreement required while DirecTV retains ownership. If you don't meet your end of the bargain there are some pretty stiff penalties. But you can get them to come out to the house and install a multi-room system free.
All of that being said, I believe DirecTV retains ownership of the card no matter how you obtain it.
As for the former, I know for a fact that this is true as I own all my own equipment and have also installed a four receiver system in my father's house that my brother and I gave him for Christmas. Now he owns the system... not DirecTV (except the cards, of course).
An old dish is worthless. The latest dishes have 5 LNBs and have to be aimed to receive all 5 satellites. The OP was only concerned about the dish (the box was probably taken by the renter).
This is in Wisconsin, USA. I agree with what you said. Not to mention that my lease with the tenants clearly stated that any property attached to the building becomes a permanent part of the building when the tenant leaves. It also states that any property left in the home when the tenant moves, (furniture, etc) is considered abandoned and the landlord can dispose of it, (and goes on to explain that the landlord may charge the tenant for disposal, etc) This is not the exact wording used in the lease, but it explains what is done with things left by tenants. In other words, once the tenant moves, whatever they leave behind is no longer theirs.
This problem tenant moved a year ago. Besides the dish on the house, (not the receiver box) they left several garden tools in the garden shed (which are in my garage now), and a whole bunch of junked furniture, and other garbage, which cost me about $250 to dispose of.
I removed the dish and the cable, and had to caulk the hole in the house where the cable entered. I now have the dish at home (dont need it), and the cable I will save even if I toss the dish in my scrap pile. I took the whole thing off the house, bracket and all. If another tenant wants a dish, they can use the same holes, but I will likely sell the property before I rent it again. Being a landlord is not my cup of tea.
I mainly asked this question because I am sure this tenant will call again, even though I told them numerous times that they no longer own the damn thing, and if they attempt to enter the property, they will be prosecuted. However, they are persistent and annoying, not to mention really dumb....... At least now, if they call, the thing is gone and I'll just tell them the company must have taken it...... My main reason to remove the thing was not so much the appearance of it, but I am tired of hearing about it. Plus that is one less thing for the siding company to remove when I get the place resided before I list it with a realtor.
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