A lease buyout is a transaction whereby a company pays a one-time fee to a landowner, and in exchange the company receives the right to the collect rent under the landowner’s cell site lease agreement. It is important to note that a lease buyout doesn’t extinguish the landowner’s obligations under the lease, just their right to collect rent. The landowner still has to honor the lease agreement, including granting the tenant access rights, keeping the rest of the property maintained, paying real property taxes, etc.
Lease buyouts typically occur in one of three ways