Is a Lease agreement legal if notary did not witness the signing?

 I signed a lease several years ago before there was any talk of horizontal drilling and/or Marcellus or any other shale layer. Needless to say the lease amount is only a few dollars and I have 100's of acres.

     My question is, is the lease a legally binding document when the notary who notarized it was not present when it was signed? In fact, I never met him nor do I know him. Yes, I am looking for a loophole to get a new lease at a much higher per acre amount, but if it's a valid arguement, why not? I'm willing to re-lease or top lease since the royalties would bring good money but until then I don't want to sit on this lease that I may get shut in on.

      If anyone has any experience or advice on this subject I would like to hear from you.

 

Thanks, Steve

Views: 6131

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James Brink, Esq. on December 11, 2011 at 4:38am

Deal.

Permalink Reply by Star Gazer on January 8, 2012 at 3:01pm
Now that the Hite V Falcon Energy ruling has come down from the PA Supreme Court and made it impossible for a gas lease to be held by extension payments past the initial term, or for the lease to be held by shut-in with no production royaltys being paid, (in PA) then the cheap leases that were signed before any landowners in the area knew about the large gas shale plays underneath the ground, doesn't seem as menacing. Nobody forced anyone to sign these leases, therefore, consider it a learning experience and move on.
2s72s0k9mm8gdPermalink Reply by 2s72s0k9mm8gd on January 16, 2012 at 10:42am

I received my notarized and recorded copy of my Shell lease the other day and the notarial seal is that of my land man.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service