Enerwest is claiming they owe no interest on production they have held for 3-4 years claiming they could not find us.
I was not aware that their ability to not pay interest was allowed based on them claiming they couldn’t find you. They claim they could not find us; however, we have a website setup for our Family Limited Partnership with all our names listed along with phone number, emails and addresses and the web page has been up for years. Our webpage is how they found us this time, pretty much proving Enerwest put no effort in the past to finding us. Can they be relieved of their responsibility to pay interest because they say they couldn’t find you?
I also thought Enerwest was to turn the production revenue over to Unclaimed Funds after 6 months. True?
Is your FLP name and all addresses filed in Caddo County? If not, do so.
My understanding is that they still have to pay, but I may be wrong-not an attorney. Make a demand letter and send it by certified mail. It is statutory. Some companies claim they do not have to pay until you demand it. Recent court opinions have said otherwise.
The timing to turn over to unclaimed funds is much longer. I seem to remember seven years, but someone may know the exact timing. Check unclaimed funds through the state treasurer just in case. Use limited partnership name and any other of your names or ancestor names.
You are correct. They wouldn’t have had to turn it over to the State Treasurer until 2021. I found a schedule online with the Treasury Dept.
Thanks for the input and we have written a letter to EnerWest claiming the interest. There is no exception that I could find in Title 52 allowing an Operator to not pay the interest due to not having a current address or a signed W9. From what I can tell, they have a responsibility to find the mineral owner and if they don’t find them, they turn it over at 3-4 years to the State Unclaimed Property. They have to make an effort, however, or bear the price of paying the interest rate.
This is correct - they have to pay the interest. The demand letter listing the statutory requirement should do the trick.
At the company I worked for they would pay all the funds one month and then pay the interest in a separate payment the next month. It is because accounting had to calculate what interest was owed after they mailed the initial payment.