Free Cable for Building Managers, but With Fine Print

Some cable companies around the country have long offered free or discounted service to superintendents, and if anybody has vociferous objections to the practice in general, they are difficult to find. But in recent years, as Time Warner Cable has increasingly formalized these longstanding deals, concerns have bubbled up that parts of its program deputize the employees of apartment buildings to carry out Time Warner’s business, thus creating a conflict for building superintendents: Ultimately, which master will you serve?

While the Apartment Managers contract has been in existence for years, it seems that in many instances the only thing supers truly needed to get a cable discount was a letter from the building’s management company saying that they were, in fact, supers and that they lived in such-and-such apartment. But over the past two years, Time Warner has been making an effort to comply with new federal tax legislation and it appears that has meant a stepped-up commitment to paperwork. They have pushed harder to get contracts signed, and sent out W-9 tax forms so the discounts supers receive are better accounted for.