Changes in the wireless transmission realm mean American Tower lease rates could be incorrect and the company could owe you money.

If you are one of the thousands of private citizens or companies that leases land to cell phone tower operators, you should be aware that the industry has made some behind-the-scenes maneuvers.

Several cell phone tower operators have consolidated, leading to the large-scale transfer of leases from different wireless carriers to the newly consolidated cell phone tower operators. Because of these company changes, your wireless tenant could be in breach of the lease, which means you could be owed money for American Tower lease rates.

Statisticbrain.com reports the average phone tower owner pays a lease rate of $45,000 annually. The largest cell phone tower owners include Crown Castle, American Tower, and SBA Communications. Well-known cell phone companies such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T recently have created partnerships with cell phone tower industry leaders, which is how the land leases have been transferred or otherwise amended without the landowner realizing it.

Most landowners required the renter to pay additional fees under certain conditions. An ongoing investigation is seeking to find if cell tower land leases have been violated and if the original renters actually owe the landlords hundreds of thousands of dollars. Original Crown Castle or American Tower lease rates could be affected if additional partners are essentially piggy-backing off the original leases.

Why American Tower Lease Rates Matter

As a property owner, you enter an agreement with a cell phone tower company that allows that company to place equipment on a certain part of your land for a certain fee. Generally, agreements like these may not allow other companies to add additional equipment on your land at no extra charge. Unfortunately, though, that is what is occurring in some instances.

In one court case, the Conrad Corporation signed a lease agreement with SBA Monarch, which installed its equipment on Conrad’s land as agreed. Verizon worked out a deal to add its own equipment in the SBA Monarch area for an added fee of $250,000 payable to Conrad. Verizon soon backed out of the deal, but Conrad discovered Verizon starting to install its equipment on Conrad land, anyway. Apparently, Verizon and SBA Monarch sealed a deal, cutting land owner Conrad out of the picture completely. Conrad now has taken SBA Monarch and Verizon to court.

If you have American Tower lease rates or other cell phone tower agreements that have been violated, you could be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Deals that happen behind the scenes that impact the use of your land and allow companies to make money from using your land should not be tolerated.