Signed Leases....problems/issues..how does this happen and continue to happen?

I have been a member of this site for many many years. Went to many meetings from many different organizations who would represent you and your neighbors to sign a really good lease. They showed very air tight leases backed by big Law firms who did everything they could to get the best lease and terms out there. This included royalties,and any costs that could be past on to the land owner plus what can or cannot be deducted. Very impressive. I have accumulated many copies of leases from firms and many seem to be pretty air tight and great for the land owner. Steaks and Cadillacs, new homes, great income and a very nice resigning bonus plus more monies after the initial 5 year lease. What could be better.

Fast forward and all you read or hear about now is new deductions, broken terms and conditions, problems after problems.

From what I read and hear it seems like the land owner is now a victim. Some may end up paying instead of receiving later on.

So my question is how is the best way to prevent this. Seems like land owners are more in court or dealing with Attorney's.

Class action law suits used to be for bad pills but now land owners are now in this category, The Attorneys who are involved are supposed to be the "best of the best, specialize in leases, write articles and so on. They sound good to me.

How can this be fixed. Perhaps more iron clad leases that are certified by the State prior to being activated. Seems like the O&G companies are un afraid of what may happen. Perhaps stronger laws? How do we stop all these issues before they begin.

Some leases I saw were pretty tight worded but they appear to be violated again and again. Little Pete and Mary just sit and watch their royalties just go down by verbiage and mathematics that they do not understand.

So when any potential landowners want to move ahead and lease his/her land to "a very good company with very good terms and conditions" what should they do? 

Seems all I read about is law suits, class action suits, new deductions, no response, blah blah blah,

I welcome all good answers and not rants and raves. Just honest opinions

Views: 432

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Sell the minerals and forget the headaches 

Let someone else pay for the pleasure of perpetual court battles when the firms start going bankrupt

The main thing is to deal with a small family or firm with a good reputation.  The lease  with the best terms may not be the one that pays the most up front, or gives the highest royalty.  You must do your homework and find the firm that has been in business a long time and has a history of treating the landowners well.  Be wary of the fast buck guys and the royalty buyers too.  Once the minerals are severed from the land they usually are very difficult to get back. In the old days  royalty buyers would follow field development and then would sell mineral rights by the acre to as many people as they could.  Just try to get 20 people to sell you back their 4 acres of minerals. Be very careful when you sell minerals as some people have learned with coal rights. They woke up one day in a strip mine!  Another  trick to avoid is the formation of a royalty pool.

RSS

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

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service