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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Default 20 Year Lease About to Expire, What Happens to Tenant Property

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Florida.

    An outdoor advertising company has been leasing a piece of property for the purpose of having a highway billboard on that property. It is visible at an interstate interchange. The 20 year lease expires in four months, and there is no renewal provision in the lease so the tenant has no rights beyond the end of the lease according to the provisions of the lease.

    If the billboard is still in place after the lease expires, what happens to it? Can the land owner take possession of it, or is he required to allow the former tenant access to the land to remove its sign after expiration? Given that the lease is silent, what obligation would the tenant have to restore the land to its original condition? If the billboard is removed, there will be huge gaping holes where the concrete pylings were.

    Tenant has not approached the land owner to discuss renewal and landowner is not interested in renewing unless there is a dramatic increase in the rent, and thus the interest in what rights he may have in what is left on the property after expiration.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: 20 Year Lease About to Expire, What Happens to Tenant Property

    Obviously I can't read the lease from here and have no ability to observe or inspect the sign. Normally, absent an agreement to the contrary, fixtures installed by a tenant become the property of the landowner; these issues should have been addressed in the lease. If your sign has significant value, I suggest running the specifics of your case past a real estate lawyer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Florida
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    Default Re: 20 Year Lease About to Expire, What Happens to Tenant Property

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Obviously I can't read the lease from here and have no ability to observe or inspect the sign.
    Naturally, which is why I described the absence of any renewal clause or any language regarding structures/property affixed to the land after termination. I didn't own the property when the lease was executed 19+ years ago, so I had no input into its drafting. The sign generates somewhere in the neighborhood of $1800 a month in advertising revenue, so it has to have some sort of value. Yup, there's a good real estate attorney I've consulted before. That will always serve better than a message board. Just checking here for general thoughts on the matter.

    I may go into the advertising business or I may just negotiate much better terms for a renewal, which the tenant doesn't even seem to realize is imminent. You see, sometime such things are just a part of a negotiation but it helps to negotiate from an informed position. A negotiation is stronger when the other party has few, if any, alternatives. Thanks for your input.

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