If you own property that is subject to a cell tower land lease, you could be owed money.

The United States is home to nearly 215,000 cell phone towers, according to Statisticbrain.com. Many of these towers are on private property, which means the cell tower owner pays rent to the property owner at an average cost of $45,000 annually.

Phone companies such as Verizon and AT&T recently have teamed up with cell phone tower owners, including Tillman Infrastructure and American Tower. While not household names, these cell phone tower owners are big businesses. When a phone company makes a deal with the cell tower company, the cell tower land lease is affected, often transferred.

A cell phone tower land lease often includes a provision that requires the tenant to pay additional money to the landowner when certain conditions transpire. An investigation has begun to examine if any of these cell tower land leases have been violated and if the renters have taken advantage of the landowners, who could be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Possible Cell Tower Land Lease Violations

In one case, the Conrad Corporation has filed suit against SBA Monarch Towers and Verizon Wireless, alleging cell tower land lease violations.

The Conrad Corporation owns the land, and SBA Monarch Towers signed an easement agreement to purchase time easement from Conrad for $1,050,000, referred to as the SBA Easement Agreement. While executing that agreement, Conrad also was negotiating an Access and Utility Easement Agreement (Verizon Easement Agreement) that would have allowed Verizon to use the property.

According to the cell tower land lease lawsuit, Conrad agreed to assign the Verizon Easement Agreement to Monarch for a $250,000 fee.

Soon after Conrad signed and settled the agreement, SBA Monarch asked Conrad to sign another document that said only the original Verizon Easement Agreement would enable Conrad to receive the $250,000 fee. Conrad signed this addendum.

Verizon backed out of its easement agreement with Conrad, explaining it would not install equipment on Conrad’s properly after all. However, Conrad discovered Verizon installing equipment on the property. Verizon and SBA Monarch had subsequently created their own agreement, leaving Conrad out and without the promised $250,000 fee even though it was still Conrad’s land.

In addition, SBA Monarch allegedly erected a fence that extends almost 11 feet beyond the boundary line of the SBA Easement Agreement limitations.

If your home or business has entered into a cell tower land lease, you could be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars due to any of several types of wrongful conduct.

The Cell Tower Land Lease Lawsuit is Conrad Corporation, Inc. v. SBA Monarch Towers III LLC and Verizon Wireless (VAW) LLC, Case No. 1:17-cv-00756-CAP in the Superior Court of Cobb County, State of Georgia.