leases

Schenectady County Settles With Lamar

Insider reported in December 2016 that Lamar has sued Schenectady County, New York for $50,000 in compensation after the county terminated a billboard lease as part of a road widening project. The County offered Lamar $25,000 for the billboard when it purchased the property. Lamar countered at $82,638 and asked for the county to pay the costs of the relocation of the billboard. The County then notified Lamar it was terminating the billboard lease under a 30 day notice clause. The […]

by John Weller· April 18, 2017· Comments are Disabled · Regulations

Outdoor Legal: The Perils of Takedown Clauses

Sometimes leases require a billboard to be removed within a certain period of time if a property is sold and the new owner wishes to terminate the lease. Sign Ad v Triple O Investments demonstrates that you need to honor that clause if you wish to salvage your board in the event of a sale. Here are the facts: SignAd, Inc. a Texas outdoor advertising company signed a lease with Sigmor Corporation. The lease granted SignAd the right to put […]

by billboardinsider· November 9, 2016· Comments are Disabled · Business

Outdoor Legal: Memories Change, Documents Last Forever

Outdoor land leases and easements are long term agreements. Landowners have a way of forgetting exactly what’s in a lease or easement agreement with the passage of time. Pocono Realty v Lamar demonstrates how a well written easement can protect you when your landlord has a fuzzy memory. In 1998 Pocono Realty company sold certain assets and easements relating to three billboards to Martin Media, which subsequently became Lamar. The purchase and sale agreement was quite clear: 1 Purchase and […]

by billboardinsider· September 28, 2016· Comments are Disabled · Business

The Pros and Cons of Railroad Leases

Insider has several outdoor clients who have railroad leases, that is, leases for billboards which are located in railroad rights of way. Here are the advantages of railroad leases. Easy access. Most railroad sites are easy to access and build because the ground is cleared and vegetation free. Great locations. Many railroad leases are for billboards adjacent to stoplights or intersections. Stopped traffic is a perfect place to put a sign. Favorable zoning treatment. Some sign ordinances regulate billboards by […]

by billboardinsider· July 7, 2016· Comments are Disabled · Business

Landmark’s Pitch

A Landmark rep called Insider last week to see if he had any outdoor leases to sell. Here’s what Insider learned from the conversation. Landmark wants to see minimum monthly sign rent of $300/month. Landmark is willing to pay up to 10-10.5 times annual rent for leases which have an annual escalator. Landmark is encouraging people who want to sell to do a tax free conversion of their lease ownership into ownership of shares of publicly-traded Landmark Infrastructure. Insider’s take: […]

by billboardinsider· June 7, 2016· Comments are Disabled · Business

Automatic Inflators in Leases

Insider and Herb Stark of Stark Outdoor were talking yesterday about annual rent inflators and leases. Many landlords will push for an annual rent increase or a rent increase every five years in exchange for entering into a long term lease. Here’s a table showing US inflation rates by decade for the past 35 years. You can see that inflation rates have been falling and are currently running less than 2%/year. What conclusions can be drawn from this? Avoid a […]