Rice Energy fails to pay bonus money on Greene County Leases

My family signed leases on three properties in Greene County Pa just over one year ago with Rice Energy. The bonus payments on the lease were due in mid-April of 2014. The leases were processed through my attorney. We began to inquire about the payments after they were due, and we were told they were behind on title work and would get to them soon. To date, payments still have not been made. To get to the point, we have gone from delay tactics to them totally ignoring us.
My concern is that they were signing many leases just prior to the IPO being offered, and that they were racking up acreage to make acreage of leased property high; since typically companies are valued based on number of acres under lease and number of potential well sites. I am concerned that they may have entered into these leases with no intention of following up with payments just to pump the IPO price.
I am writing for two reasons. First to warn anyone potentially considering leasing to Rice to proceed with caution. Second, I find it hard to believe we are the only ones in this situation. I am curious to know if others are having similar problems.
We plan to file suit soon, and a complaint with the SEC. If anyone is interested in joining in you can respond or personal message me.

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Permalink Reply by John B. on January 20, 2015 at 7:57am
Thanks Henry, I appreciate the info.
Permalink Reply by scott straight on February 27, 2015 at 5:37am

Henry, I leased to Vantage and without any notification they sold our lease to Pa Land Holdings,the last check came from Vantage but under Pa request,so still be carefull.

Permalink Reply by Lance Kearns on January 23, 2015 at 6:21pm

I went through this last year with a client's property in Morris Township.  I contacted Rice the day before payment was due and informed them of a failure to pay.  They told me there was a title backup.  I did not accept that answer and proceeded to start contacting everybody I knew at Rice. Long story made short, after a meeting with one of their land people I called Aileen Rice, met with her and Toby and my client picked up a handwritten check the next day.  We have had no issues with the property since then.  Due to a potentially unfavorable leasing climate we wanted to make sure Rice paid as opposed to releasing the lease and trying again with another company. 

If you're having issues receiving payment then I suggest that you remain persistent and work your way up the chain of command as best you can. Your first step should be to send a notice of failure to pay, by certified mail, and activate the clock on your release. If this does not get a response then wait for the 30/60 days that are stated in your lease and then file an affidavit of non-payment at the courthouse and contact any other company that is leasing in your area. 

Best of luck! 

Permalink Reply by Jeff Kerr on January 28, 2015 at 10:08am

Permalink Reply by Jeff Kerr on January 28, 2015 at 10:30am

I got a call from Rice 3 weeks it took me to get a call. back on the issue of them not paying us for Oil andNGL taken from our unit. Chesp was paying us as soon as they took over now its a dry well lol. I sent pay stubs showing Chesp. was paying for Oil and LGN The lady I spoke to did not know how Chesp. was getting Oil or NGL from our unit. She said she was glad they paid us but they must have made a mistake and paid us from some other well. You all know Chesp. they would not pay us if they did not owe us. I feel Rice is not telling the truth. on this matter.  any thoughts on this any one. 

Permalink Reply by Barry D on January 28, 2015 at 11:21am

What do the production reports at the ODNR say ?

Permalink Reply by Jeff Kerr on January 28, 2015 at 1:16pm

we are in PA. not ohio Barry D not sure how to look that up  not real good on the pc yet

Permalink Reply by DONNA M SELLERS on January 30, 2015 at 3:05am

OK...CHK&STATOIL owned our well..We were paid for almost a year for the Oil, Gas, an NGL from them. In Aug. 2014 Rice bought our well as far as I can tell (spoke  to other persons in same unit) our checks dropped to a third of what we were getting. Rice was paying us 1.39 Price and NO-- oil or NGLs. When asked about this a spoke person from  Rice said Well good for us because CHK must have been paying us from someone elses well???? wtf...sorry for the cursing!!! but what kind of company says that? So I contact CHK and ask them Did you pay us for OIL,GAS,NGLs their reply YES. And Rice should be to.....contact them and ask them???!!!! Its then the song hit me...ROUND AND ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH THE MONKEY CHASED THE WEASEL!!!!   Good Grief....  :(

Permalink Reply by John B. on February 18, 2015 at 5:46pm
Was wondering if there has been any updates with Rice Energy and current leases? I've called the Blu Team twice over the past three weeks and have not heard back. I also contacted the community relations dept. here on the forum and again, did not hear back. I tried a phone call to the landman (who I spoke with several times after the lease was signed) but recently it states the voicemail is full. I'm an optimist and still hoping things will still move forward, but it's disheartening when calls or emails are not returned. Not sure what the hold up is as we were leased through Chesepeake five years ago and ran into no problems. We even had a private title search run on the property to be sure nothing was overlooked. JB
Permalink Reply by Debra Lynn Pennell on February 19, 2015 at 8:24am
How do you do a private title search and how much does it cost?
Permalink Reply by Utica JOE on February 23, 2015 at 11:43am

Contact a title company that is local to your county. Title can cost anywhere from $1000 to upwards of $6000-$7000. It all depends on both the amount of research you want done (taking the title chain back to 1900....1850 or even back to Patent/Military District). If your land ever had any producing wells on it, that also makes the abstract more complicated to complete. Also, if you have numerous parcels (tracts of land) that you need researched, that increases your costs as well. 

Greene County, PA in particular, can be researched online via usalandrecords.com. However, you must pay to view/download the actual instruments, etc..

Permalink Reply by Debra Lynn Pennell on February 19, 2015 at 11:24am
I would like to talk with you about this. Had similar situation. Please email me at debbielynnpennell@comcast.net Look forward to so eakig with you.

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