Increasingly, with many new cell tower leases, and on recent and future amendments to old leases, landowners are being asked to agree to a “Right of First Refusal” or “Rental Stream Offer” provision. These provisions are easily overlooked by landowners who are more focused on their immediate financial concerns; however, agreeing to a right of first refusal devalues your property as a whole, restricts your future bargaining power, and revokes your freedom of choice when it comes to selling your assets.
Lease optimization companies such as Black Dot Wireless, Md7 and the Lyle Company are often the entities contacting landowners. It is crucial to remember that these companies are not working to optimize your lease! They are paid by the tower and phone companies to optimize the lease for your tenant at YOUR expense.
A “Right of First Refusal” or “Rental Stream Offer” provision works like this: If you desire to sell your property or your right to receive rents to a third party, you must report the offer to your phone tower tenant. Your tenant then will have a set amount of time to match the offer and acquire your property or rental stream itself. Wait, what if you are selling your property to a member of your family at a good deal? Well, unfortunately that sweet deal just went to a multi-billion dollar company.
The reason why tower companies, like Crown Castle and American Tower, as well as communications companies, like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, want you to sign a right of first refusal or rental stream offer is simple: they do not want to negotiate against other industry experts.
Communications industry experts, like those at Vertical Consultants, can identify the value of the tower site, and use this information to achieve optimal rental income. In fact, the lease experts at Vertical Consultants, on average, more than triple landowner rents. While the cell tower lease experts at Vertical Consultants only seek to optimize your rents, other companies seek to optimize their own personal gain. Those gains should be yours!
Since the early 2000’s, there has been a boom in cellular tower lease acquisition companies. These acquisition companies search for undervalued leases, approach landowners and purchase the landowner’s right to receive their rent. It is important to understand that these acquisitions companies are acquiring your lease in order to make a profit. The phone and tower companies view the inclusion of a right to first refusal as the means of combatting these acquisitions and thereby reducing the potential for having to negotiate with savvy negotiation experts.
If a landowner is presented with a right of first refusal clause, or is approached by a lease acquisition company or lease optimization company, the landowner should proceed with the utmost caution, or contact Vertical Consultants immediately. If you have already signed a right of first refusal, all is not lost!
The agreement does not prevent you from working with Vertical Consultants because we do not desire to acquire your property or rents, and we will never ask you to sell them to us. The experts at Vertical Consultants can still negotiate your rents, and, depending on your individual situation, may be able to have that pesky right of first refusal clause removed or altered. Call us today for a free consultation and for more information on the hazards of lease acquisitions, rights of first refusal and rental stream offers.
In 2022, Vertical Consultants averaged an immediate 302% increase in rents being received by its clients, and since 2010, has been able to assist its clients in the recovery of over 300 years worth of combined underpaid, and, in some cases, unpaid rents and other expenses that were rightfully due to these property owners located throughout North America.
To learn more about our services, visit https://www.celltowerleaseexperts.com or contact Vertical Consultants at info(at)vertical-consultants(dot)com or 877.456.7552.
