Just MPO...unless you need the income from the lease...I would not renew the lease and I would insist the cell phone company remove their tower.

Food for thought....at some point in time you may wish to sell the land...all of it...and potential buyers may not wish to have a high cell tower anywhere on the land. Ergo..it will have a detrimental effect on property sale/value.

Another thought...if you decide to sell the land...there's really no telling what this current cell phone company...or a future buyer of that cell phone tower company...will do with the land. They could add more towers or communication equipment. They could request a permanent egress route if there isn't one now. How would that effect your privacy/property? Their future equipment might interfere with your home communication/electronic equipment. Local laws may prohibit some things...but this company has a much bigger voice and more money to go back to the town for variances that might not please you.

Last of my thoughts but not the least...the tower company/companies might go bust! It's happened in my neck of the woods. They don't have the funds to remove their equipment and the property owner is either stuck with the monstrosity on their property...or to pay for removal themselves [costly]...or to take the defunct company to court for any number of contract infractions requiring them to remove the tower or them pay for its removal. Any way you look at this scenario...it's costly both financially and mentally.

All tolled...I personally don't like the deal at all and would extricate myself from the entire project as soon as you legally are able.

You need to consult with a lawyer practicing in this geographical area who specializes in real estate law.

Steelintheair.com is the lawyers down south, but call me old fashioned but I want to talk to someone who isn't 9 hrs or 600+ miles away from myself.. Already tried the real estate lawyers, they are fuzzy about it, not many people talk about their towers! I've read many of times about how a tower affects real estate, but this tower is on farm land. Access to it has already been made, and actually they improved what we already had and they have to maintain it.. They want another couple hundred square feet, sure, the rent would be more per month than the few bushel of beans or corn that would be produced per year on that parcel of land..

And as for the income.. I think that's what dad had in mind when he had it put on the property, and why I'm opposed to getting a lump sum. I'm not over my ears in debt, and having a known steady paycheck monthly for years sounds like a good idea..

As for getting rid of the S. O. B... I can always put a free scrap sign on it and it wouldn't take long for it to be gone...

;-)

That's why I said to contact them and ask them for a referral in your area. It's their expertise I am sure they know everyone else in the same game. No harm to make a phone call.

LOL I like your attitude, Devon!

The abandoned tower near me was on farm land, too. And...I do believe they used your method to get it removed. The tower owner had...note the past tense...been a personal friend of the farm owner and begged him for use of his property so he could test his new cell tower design. Currently...I think it's similar to the Hatfields and McCoys saga. The tower is finally gone. The farmer is happy. But the tower owner ended up skipping town....at the end of something cylindrical. LOL

My mother had a tower, although not a cell tower, on property she inherited from my grandfather. Time came to renegotiate the contract, she upped the previous price, added a specific TIME LIMIT as to how long the tower could stay in place. (10 years) AND had included in the contract that if a new contract wasn't put in place, the company had to take the tower down in XX amount of time at THEIR expense.

15 yrs later, she sold that piece of property -- and it brought top dollar. More so because the tower was gone.

Good luck!

Had a friend who negotiated these contracts, sorry lost touch with her, she moved somplace in CA. Just based on my old conversations with her, I would ask for what you would love to have - the $ amount and lease length. You may be surprised when they give it to you.

To find a attorney, perhaps contact your nearest city that has cell towers and ask for the name of their attorney who negtiated the contract.

FWIW, a decade or so ago a friend told me that a company approached them about putting a cell tower on their bit of land & the rent was $10,000 per month! I don't know if it ever happened tho. We are rather rural.

Good luck in finding a lawyer, as that seems to be the way to go.

LOL, I would be careful asking for 10K a month, as your neighbor would probably be happy with 9.5K per month. Suggest being somewhat reasonable. The plus is you already have a tower which saves them some $.

Do any cities, counties, or the like have cell towers in your area? Often cities will put them on water towers and the like. Those contracts would most likely be negotiated by the city/county attorneys or you could easily find out who did represent them and you could even have the extra benefit of being able to see the paperwork on it. Simple GDPA request would make it available, you might have to pay for copies if you wanted copies but there's ways to save money on that too. You could then consult those attorneys either for a referral or to have them represent you