Letter received from Landman, no idea what I should do...

Hello all,

I've received a letter from a landman indicating that I have interest in Marion County as I am an heir. I have no idea where the interest is, how much, etc.

I am not in the area, is there a way to find out what this interest is before contacting the landman?

I have no experience with mineral rights, and it appears no one that is alive has any idea where this interest came from.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by gary SWF on September 4, 2013 at 10:05am

Maybe you could send a letter back asking "which one are you speaking about and why"? Maybe a little non straight forward, but remember you are dealing with a "Landman".........they normally have a hiden agenda. Just my thoughts....Gary

0i7okn54zwbdoPermalink Reply by 0i7okn54zwbdo on September 4, 2013 at 10:09am

Call him back and ask him to send you all of the pertinent information for your perusal.  Don't talk numbers or lease terms, just tell him you want to do some investigating of your own.  Once you have the data you can start to understand what questions to ask.

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on September 4, 2013 at 10:26am

Good advice so far. Find out how many acres are in play, what your percentage ownership is, exact location, even names of other partial owners so that you can all try to work to together.

Additionally, go to the Marion county page (and check out neighboring counties) on GMS where the parcel(s) are located.  Find out what companies are active in the county and what offers people are getting. Find out what royalties are offered along with what the terms of lease are. Hopefully, there is more than one company leasing so that they must compete with each other and give you a better offer.

This very complex and even a single letter or punctuation pint can change a lease.  Make sure you use a good attorney experienced with modern drilling and leasing.

Good luck and keep us posted

Permalink Reply by Nancy Mosley on September 4, 2013 at 1:08pm

You can also call the assessor's office in Marion county and ask what they have for names of possible ancestors of yours. This might go back several generations and they might not be able to help you quickly on the phone, but worth a try.

If you can do a little geneaological research and find out who might have lived in West Virginia, in Marion county, that would help. Of course the landman should have that but as suggested sometimes they don't tell the whole story, or even have all the information. Sometimes one person does the research, and another person contacts the heirs.

Permalink Reply by Deb N on September 4, 2013 at 1:10pm

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.

0ym9x5ag7ury2Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on September 4, 2013 at 8:37pm

Deb,   Check the Marion County WV Recorders office to see if they have electronic records similar to Wood County WV. You can do a search on the last name of your recently deceased relatives in the county and the deeds to their property surface and mineral rights will show up.

If you are an heir and the real estate taxes are not being paid, someone (a landman for instance) will buy the land at a sheriffs sale, but you will have 18 months to pay the taxes plus a $1000 fee. The Assessors Office in Charleston will notify all heirs by a certified letter (part of the $1000 administrative gouge, I mean fee) and await your decision to pay the taxes plus $1000 for all the heirs. They don't allow the paying heir to be sole heir, you pay the taxes & fee for everyone.

This happened to me a few years back so I know all to well of the details.

As everyone now knows, sign nothing without a lawyer on your side to interpret any contracts or leases. Those who don't head this bit of advice will forever regret what they signed away.

Good Luck and play it smart.

 

Permalink Reply by tater on September 4, 2013 at 11:46pm

 

 hey deb is it marion county wv i live in marion county if so yell back going thur same on property  here just trying to see location and district just at court week ago followed back to 1928 on mine

Permalink Reply by Charles on September 5, 2013 at 12:17pm

The letter may contain more information then you think. First, reread it. Second, ask the landman (by phone is ok) for...

  1. Location of minerals: District name/number, District name/number, Parcel number(s). Current surface owner(s). Nearest road. Waterways. Nearby towns (helps with Google maps). Address? Ask for a Tax Map with the mineral tract noted/colored in.
  2. Your ownership interest, i.e., fractional share, in how many acres? Your net acres?
  3. Chain: How did ownership come to you, from whom? Ask for a Oil & Gas Chain for your interest.
  4. What land service company (broker) does s/he work for? Where is this broker located?
  5. Who is the Oil & Gas company?

Start with those simple requests. All are legitimate and a reputable landman/broker will respond in writing with the information. Then come back to GMS, join a local group, and ask for help. Good luck

Permalink Reply by Ken Barton on September 5, 2013 at 12:28pm

I wrote this before I saw the message from Charles, who gave excellent advice, but at the risk of being redundant:   What does the letter say exactly?  Are they trying to ascertain if you are actually an heir?  I am certain that the interest is fairly small, otherwise you would probably know about it, but the Landman should have referenced the tract in his letter.  If not, call him and ask.  Unlike some of the posters on this site would have you believe, Landmen are not endowed with "Svengali-type" hypnosis skills that will make you sign blank pieces of paper.  As far as any "hidden agenda"-there is none.  If you are an owner, they want to lease your interest-case closed.  Find out how much interest you have, where it is and then make a deal.  The Assessor's Office, or Recorder of Deeds will be no help.  Call the people who have researched the tract and who believe that you have an inteest.  One word of warning, though.  Make certain that it is a drilling company and oil and gas producer, not a speculator.  Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Hank Edwards on September 5, 2013 at 10:31pm

My advice is to just ask the landman to sent you a map. There is nothing to fear from these people until and unless they ask you to sign something. If they do not want to send you a map with some information---then just forget they ever contacted you.

Good Luck, Hank

Permalink Reply by Hank Edwards on September 5, 2013 at 10:44pm

Sorry, I am a little tired now and hit send too soon. Please do not try to do your own abstract work since they have paid professionals to do this. Do not reinvent the wheel. If you try to do your own title work you will just get dizzy and confused. They know how to trace the chain of title and when the time comes to sign an offer, please do not try to be an attorney. Hire some pros---the gas companies do so. By the way, I am an attorney---but not in West Virginia. Have some land there, however. The End.

Hank

Permalink Reply by Nancy Mosley on September 6, 2013 at 12:01am

Hank, It never hurts to know as much as you can about your own interests. If you can't do it, hire somebody. But some things, for people close enough to do it (i.e., can get to the court house or find the records on line), can be done "by self". 

I am also not a West Virginia attorney, nor any kind of attorney, but am the sister of one (also not in WV). 

And the paid professionals sometimes miss things; I've seen it.

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