An unrecorded billboard lease or billboard easement is trouble waiting to happen.  Whoever buys the land can allege that the lease or easement is not in effect if it is not recorded.  Here’s an interesting case from Wisconsin.

A company built a bowling alley and received an easement from the property owner to put up a billboard.  The company rented the billboard to an auto dealer but never recorded the billboard easement.  The bowling alley burned down and the land was put for sale.  An investor bought the land.  During due diligence the investor asked the seller who owned the billboard and was told “Seller represents that Billboard is part of property.”  After closing the new landowner notified the autodealer to cease paying the billboard owner and to pay the new landowner.   The billboard owner sued the new landowner for tortious interference with contract and sought a declaration that it still owned the billboard.  Wisconsin courts denied the claim because the easement was not recorded.

Insider’s take:

• Record your leases and easaements to avoid having a landowner represent that they “own” your billboard.

• Record you lease or easements to announce to prospective buyers that you have a valid interest.

• Sometimes you don’t want competitors to know the rent and maturity of your lease.  In that case simply have  memorandum of lease signed and recorded which notifies people that you have a lease or easement which affects the real estate.