I'm working on a property that has a free standing outdoor advertising sign on it that is sited for view from the nearby State Highway. The sign dates to before 1986 when the following was part of a deed transferring the land on which the sign sits:
"RESERVING UNTO THE GRANTOR an easement for ingress and egress from Smith Road across the above described real property for the purpose of maintaining and repairing an existing advertising sign (State Permit No. 12345) now located upon said real property.
GRANTOR shall have the right to rent or lease the existing sign to others, to retain all benefits, including but not limited to rentals and lease payments, and to assign the above reserved easement to persons of his choice."
I don't have all the details yet, but a party claiming to hold all rights to the sign now says they got that interest from the estate of the deceased grantor in the 1986 described deed. At the time of the above deed the grantor was a single man. I don't know details of his estate yet. The owner of the encumbered property is elderly and not much help in recalling details or providing records.
This raises a lot of questions for me: Who owned/owns the sign? Notice there is no easement for the sign itself. If grantor owned the sign why would he need to reserve the second set of rights? Was the easement reservation an easement in gross? A license? Wouldn't those rights expire with the grantor? The only transferable right appears to be the easement, which I suppose could be done to allow the sign tenant/lessor to access the sign, but it appears no transfer was made while the grantor in the deed was alive. Any thoughts?
The easement is apputenant to the sign, I would think.
The sign requires more research, it may be on an implied easement. Need more information, lease documents, contracts, etc on the sign. Find out which property it really is on.
BajaOR, post: 354361, member: 9139 wrote: I'm working on a property that has a free standing outdoor advertising sign on it that is sited for view from the nearby State Highway. The sign dates to before 1986 when the following was part of a deed transferring the land on which the sign sits:
"RESERVING UNTO THE GRANTOR an easement for ingress and egress from Smith Road across the above described real property for the purpose of maintaining and repairing an existing advertising sign (State Permit No. 12345) now located upon said real property.
GRANTOR shall have the right to rent or lease the existing sign to others, to retain all benefits, including but not limited to rentals and lease payments, and to assign the above reserved easement to persons of his choice."
Any thoughts?
Well, the nature of the estate that the Grantor retained is set out as "the right to rent or lease the existing sign" which is a right of use, I'd think. Considering that the Grantor also reserved an easement "for the purpose of maintaining and repairing an existing advertising sign", the spatial extent of the easement would seem to be determined by the purely practical test of what is reasonably necessary to maintain and repair that existing sign.
That is, had the reservation been "the right to use so much of the land as is necessary to maintain and repair the existing sign and to to maintain said sign upon said land", would the situation be materially different?
I think the ability to assign the easement is tied to renting/leasing the sign to others.
This is really a question for an Attorney experienced in these matters.
I don't know if the rights to the sign survived the grantor, an Attorney's opinion is needed.
I have several thoughts.
The "State Permit" implies the sign might be on the highway ROW. I believe a copy of said permit is required.
At some time a document should exist in which the "Grantor" is the same a the Owner in the property chain. I would need to see that original grant. That grant may have passed via various means I would also need to know that chain.
I do not see any language granting ownership of said sign, so it may be a part of the property and it is just the use of said sign that was granted.
As far as I see the grantor retained rights that had to be separately transferred.
Here in PA I would search in Miscellaneous Document Records as well as Deeds, however many utility easements are only in possession of the utility, so a request to them is required. Is a sign considered a utility in your state?
Paul in PA
Kent: You're correct about the right of use and the size/location of the easement. I'm trying to learn enough about the situation to be able to help the sign appraiser and the parties seeking a quit claim of sign related rights determine which steps to take next. Anyone clearly having rights to the sign will be damaged by the desired removal of the sign, hence the appraiser.
Dave: Yes, may need help from an attorney if further research doesn't clear things up and if value of the sign and rights is substantial.
Paul: In California, many signs located on private property and meant to be seen from a state highway need a permit from Caltrans. I'm told the permit number in the deed is a Caltrans number. Don't yet know much about that process or what right the permit gives the holder. I too think the land owner owns the sign. I definitely need to learn more, or to pass this off to those more knowledgeable. Thanks for your thoughts.
One would tend to assume that the one who obtained the permit would be the owner of he sign.
Paul in PA