Was just hoping to get some information. About two weeks ago aunt and I were contacted by a landman. Apparently we own mineral rights in Doddridge County. I know absolutely nothing about how this works and I wanted to know how prevalent drilling is. The company he is researching for is CNX.
While looking for information, found out that mineral rights on another piece of property had been sold last May for delinquent taxes.
My mother was killed in a car wreck in 2001 and my stepdad was brain damaged. I was guardian and over the estate and never received any bill for taxes in Doddridge County. The first year she was delinquent was the year she was killed. It killed me to see her name on delinquent taxes.
Apparently I have time to get the property back, but is it worth it?
Tammy, Based on what little information you have, I would say, Yes! However, there are a lot of if’s. The best thing to do is redeam the mineral rights. There is very little chance that they are worth less than the cost of buying them back . Then find someone familiar with what is currently happening in Doddridge and find out the details about the two properties. You can either use a lawyer or a firm that does mineral rights research. The odds are that what you have is worth spending some time and money to find out what you have. Some people are getting rich and some are just making a few bucks. But if a landman contacted you, it is worth the time, money, and effort to find out what is going on.
Yes it is worth it I think. There are good prices being paid for leases in that county.
Once the sale goes through I think the "delinquent" owner has 18 months to settle things.
Please keep asking questions. You are likely to have many. There are lots of people on here who can help.
Thanks Nancy and Richard. Bit of a frustrating day. Called the state, they referred me to the county, the county referred me to the Sheriff's office, who sounded frustrated when they sent me back to the state. Am starting to think whatever governs these things was invented by a psychotic monkey on acid. I've gleaned that to get the land back I will have to go to court because the guy who bought it has the deed. Mom would've had a stroke by now. I don't know much about the mineral rights I still apparently own. I don't even know who is paying the taxes. And I do research for a living. I live in Missouri and didn't even know about this stuff two weeks ago. I expect I will at least get a good story out of it.
Tammy, I love your description!
A couple years ago I bought a tract that had been delinquent taxes since the 1970s. I knew of the late owner, since her husband and my great grandfather had been co-owners of several tracts. She died in the 1950s. This property was part of something I had inherited another part of. Anyway it had been on the delinquent list for years. If things don't get sold at a tax sale they get put on a long term list maintained by the state auditor. Anyway part of the rule was that I had to do a title search or pay for one and then supply the auditor of any names and addresses of her heirs. I researched and sent in the list. There had to be a notice in the local paper for 3 weeks in a row as well as the heirs being delivered certified letters. This gave them a chance to redeem the property which they very likely didn't know they had any claim to. This woman had no children and her heirs were her sisters and eventually their great grandchildren who probably never heard of her. Anyway it took awhile for that to happen, then after the year and a half wait I received my deed. If they had redeemed, I would have been refunded my expenses.
Doddridge County is very busy these days and probably there are many "long lost" mineral owners that the office is dealing with. That doesn't mean they can ignore you.
There are worse things than a trip to beautiful West Virginia.
If you can find out what the local paper is (probably a weekly) it would be a good idea to get a subscription. And start planning your visit.
This appears to be a local paper http://thedoddridgeindependent.com/joomla2/
The local paper is where the notice of delinquent taxes would be listed. Also notice on intent to drill new horizontal wells.
Keep asking questions!
Nancy
Nancy, Tammy, There are two local papers, The Herald Record and the Doddridge Independent. The Herald Record has been the County paper FOREVER. It was established in 1878. Up until about a year ago it was the only paper in the county. Therefore it is the one that has the Legal Advertisements. The independent is a more modern looking news paper and has lots of information about the O & G industry in the county. However I don’t think it has the legal Ads. I live in Florida and do subscribe to the Harold Record. It usually, but not always, arrives here the week of publication. It can be pretty boring digging through the legal ads, but there have been a few times that I found information about things that pertained to property that I own. Evidently the State requires that certain information about property actions be published but, there is no standard format for the advertisement. Each company has their own format and this makes it even more difficult to dig through. The address for subscription is: The Herald Record, 202 East Main Street, West Union, WV 26456. COST: Outside WV $22.00 a year. I usually get mine on Fri. or Sat. phone, 304-873-1600 FAX 304-873-1600, Email: [email protected]
ThanksRichard. Very good information. I live in NC and get the Ritchie Gazette and the Pennsboro News. Interestingly, the different companies put notices about horizontal drilling in different papers so to see everything one needs to read both papers.