Current Issues in Billboard Leases

• Overview
• Agenda
• Faculty
• Credits

Benefits

Billboards are an interesting and limited aspect of real property law. They are generally despised by environmentalists and conservationists. They offer nothing to the aesthetic value of our highways. They are often heavily regulated and limited by the various levels of government with jurisdiction over the motor vehicle right-of-ways. They are also a valuable source of revenue to property owners along the right-of-way and can be informative and a source of great assistance to parties traveling on the right-of-way who are looking for the service advertised by the billboard, such as gas stations, restaurants, hotels, etc. They also offer another alternative form of reaching the population with information that companies through their marketers are seeking to distribute, whether it be a political position, a sales effort or in some instances by the local government as a public service informational effort. With all these conflicting points of view, the documents that govern billboards by their nature can be a complex, unique form of real estate transaction. Knowledge of the varying forms of documents, issues that arise, and disparate positions with regard to billboards, are invaluable to counsel who handle these matters. As we know, the request to handle such a document is always viewed by the client as a simple and routine matter. Experience regularly tells us differently.

Learning Objectives:

• You will be able to describe how a billboard agreement differs from a typical lease, license or easement.
• You will be able to recognize property owners valuation of a billboard agreement
• You will be able to discuss government regulations.
• You will be able to explain terms of the agreement between the sign company and the business being advertised.