I am having major issues with an Operator in ND and I am hoping someone can provide some advice on what I should do next.
I bought an ORRI that the previous owner was not getting paid on, the conveyance language stated that the new owner would own all suspense funds, and I suspected that they probably should have been in pay, so I took a chance on buying the package.
I have since ran full title (super clean) and presented it to the operator. The operator has acknowledged that my title is correct and that I should be paid on the well, but they are refusing to pay because they don’t know who they are over crediting (if anyone). They say that it is my responsibility to cure their entire title deck to show where they went wrong, not merely prove that my ownership is 100% legitimate. I estimate there is about $75,000 that should have been in a suspense fund had they done a better job on title. They don’t have a title opinion or any record of title internally (shocker, I know).
Do I have any options other than suing? Is there a precedent for obtaining suspense funds when the operator has no records of a suspense account.
If I sue, would I be entitled the to funds they “should” have had in a suspense account?
How many years have they owed you? Have you done a search for unclaimed property in your state? https://unclaimedproperty.nd.gov/
Some states escheat the funds after so many years. If you are in fact listed as a mineral owner…
Look in your States Century Code.
If the estimate is $75K I think it would be wise to hire an attorney, Good Luck.
This is only my experience , but i was also cheated 100% royality for 9 years. I also proved to the company there error after almost 2 years of going round and round. Texas has a statue of limitations, i was told wether ill informed or not by a attorney that they were correct. They only paid me for last 3.5 years, claimed statue of limitations. So they were wrong and admitted it, but only gave me a very small percentage that i could sue for. Either way they kept 80 % of production, and did even say thanks. They have these leases structured, and lawmakers have protected them. They benifit most of the time from there mistakes, and a corperation has no conscience, so theft or wright or wrong matters none to them. Good Luck dont waste any more time than necessary getting after them
Thanks Rodney, it’s helpful to hear your experience. It sounds like you did a lot of work and I would be proud of getting 3.5 years, especially without spending legal money. I’m still deciding what to do, I think a lawsuit is likely in my case since the operator seems like they don’t want to be reasonable and work with me.