Goodman on Recording Leases

Andy Goodman, Age Advertising

Out of Home development and siting expert Andy Goodman talks about the importance of recording leases.

Should I record my lease?

Absolutely. I don’t record the whole Lease, we record a “notice of Lease” which states the date, the Lessor and Lessee names, and what the Lease is for, a billboard, along with a site plan. This way if the property sells and the property owner doesn’t disclose the Lease its found by the perspective buyer during due diligence on the property. Because billboards take a long time to permit and build properties may sell before the billboard is built, without the billboard on site there is no constructive notice.

Many years ago I was working for a small operator and we were permitting a location in the county of Los Angeles. The property changed hands before the billboard was built, there was no notice of Lease and the property owner didn’t disclose the Lease. We came in and built the billboard on the property and a week later we were told we would have to remove the billboard because the new property owner didn’t want the billboard. I know we fought it for a period of time but in the end we took the billboard down. This was an awful learning experience which I don’t’ want to repeat. I keep a small piece of concrete from the foundation of that billboard on my desk to remind me of the importance of recording a notice of lease. By the way, this is the only billboard in my career that I have demolished with the intention of not rebuilding. It was a sad day.

Andy Goodman has 33 years experience siting and developing billboards.  You can reach Andy at andygoodman.age@gmail.com.

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