Lease

We were thinking our Lease was up(5 year) The Leases expiration date had passed and their was a section that said within 60 days after the Lease was up they had option to extend or renew under similar terms. Chespeake bought this from Ranger Resources) They sent a letter saying to sign the check that day and send to Chesapeake.Is similar the same and can they do this without even negotiating. This is the same lease that was signed by a Notary at some point after the signatures. Has anyone else had similar Leases?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin on March 29, 2013 at 1:04pm

I BELEIEVE I WILL HAVE TO TAKE IT TO OUR LAWYER TO AT LEAST LOOK AT THE WORDING. SAD WAY SOME PEOPLE ARE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. I WILL POST WHAT I FIND OUT.

Permalink Reply by Robin Hood on March 29, 2013 at 12:44pm

First thing is to not cash the check. If you did, its one more hurdle to jump. There are class action lawsuits in play over this very matter. One in Ohio and one in West Virginia. I spoke to a landowner in Pennsylvania who file against this and eventually settled in confidentially with Chesapeake. He did get something as far as an increase in bonus, but they would not budge on royalties.  His advice was if you pay peanuts, expect monkeys.(Meaning his lawyer was not up to the task.)

Chesapeake plays hardball, they will not budge if you don't have legal representation. They make you pay to play. They use the threat of court litagation and then if you decide to sue, after a series of legal gerrymandering, they finally Negotiate a settlement. But first they require, signing a confidentially agreement.

The deck is stacked against you. If you have alot of property, the lawyers may do it on contingency, I have talked to many lawyers and the price is as high as 33% of the settlement. That includes the Royalties, but just the difference, for example if your current lease is 12.5% and its increased to 20% , then the lawyers would get 33% of the 7.5%. They may require you modify the lease to include their piece of the action. One lawyer, I spoke with only wanted the royalties for the first 5 years.

In our situation there is a well pad on an adjacent property. Two of the three Northwest wells will go through our property. There is no infrastructure in place, which may be another year at least. We are still vetting lawyers. We will eventually file a court action.

If you are interested in joining the class action the Lawyer is Frankovitch in West Virginia. They have filed in West Virginia and I was told the Ohio case is two months behind. Google them for the phone number. Their web site has some info,also.  I have spoken with them, but have not committed.

If you want to talk, friend me and I'll send you my phone number.

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