We received a top lease offer a few months ago. It was not signed by us and we never talked to the landman. We have now received 2 checks for gas wells drilled on the property. Checks have not been cashed. Is this legal? Would this happen if others offered the top lease signed it? What do we need to do?
A top lease goes into effect when the original lease expires. If you did not sign the top lease, you don’t have one. Check with the operator’s division owner or revenue department to see what lease was in effect when the wells were drilled. The old lease may have still been in place. You may have been force pooled depending upon the state.
Why did you not sign the top lease or at least call the landman to keep negotiations open with the company? You cant do anything now since its in production,hopefully your new royalty rate, legally assigned to you, wasnt diminished drastically