Mr. Caldwell, do you mean sources for doing deed and lease research? Here is a website for some states.
https://www.uslandrecords.com/uslr/UslrApp/index.jsp
For West Virginia, the only county available so far is Ritchie, from July 1985 to the present. I haven't tried other states.
Nancy Mosley
An exhaustive list local to the Marcellus. Includes plat and deed research.
Not sure how admin feels about links to other forums, though.
My family recently signed some gas leases with Chesapeake in Columbiana County, Oh. With all the activity in eastern Ohio, investment firms are coming out in droves trying to convince folks to invest their bonus payments and royalty payments to minimize their tax obligations. This sounds too good to be true. Since this is all passive income, it seems there is no alternative but to pay the federal and state income taxes due for income earned from mineral right activity. Does anyone have any tax planning advice to the contrary?
They are probably selling annuities. Watch out!
I was recently contacted in reference to oil and gas rights that my mother inherited a landman contacted me since my mother is deceased and I am not sure what to do or what the right thing to do is , can anyone offer advice? I know I will let a attorney look over the papers but still would like to know what to expect. Thank you.
Hi Debbie,
I worked as a landman before I struck out on my own as an attorney. I did a lot of contacting mineral owners who had inherited their interests. It's very common. Just check to make sure they're from a reputable company, make sure you get a no warranty of title clause, and an indemnification clause. You can bargain for the bonus and the royalty, and ask for other changes to the lease. Keep in mind that even if you ask for a 5 year lease, it will always have an extension of some sort in it. I can't tell you how many potential clients have told me they wanted a 3 year or 5 year lease, and 3 years or 5 years later gone back to the "revised" lease to find automatic extensions. It's really shady, but extremely common.
Thanks Kyle, the landman that contacted me was with EQT, terra I’ve been trying to research but not exactly sure what I’m researching. Also I have 5 siblings how does that come into play. I appreciate your comments.
EQT is a legitimate business. Whether they're reputable is questionable. They've been around a long time and made a lot of people mad at them.
Each of your five siblings should hold the same size interest you hold, so they should receive the same paperwork you have, unless your mom left you all her mineral rights in a will or something.
Thanks Kyle do I have to deal with EQT what have they done to make people mad to you know? Well maybe if I act like I know what I’m talking about LOL.
Do we all have to agree on this ? Several of my siblings had not communicated with my mom several years before she pasted away.
You don't have to deal with EQT, unless they are the only outfit working in your area. You could shop EQT's offer around if there are any others.
Each sibling will deal with EQT separately. It's common to have siblings sign months apart from each other. Sometimes there will be holdouts who just don't sign.
My own EQT story is tied up in negotiations right now. Everything else I "know" about them is hearsay, so I won't repeat it. The sheer number of stories, and their sources, are what concern me about them.
I did see whatever there was a class action law suit back in 2007 and 2008
how can I find out what is a good or bad offer for my area for the signing bonus as well as the royality payments. I live in N.C
One of the purposes of this website is to help mineral owners find out what oil and gas companies are paying. Find the county page and browse through it. If nobody has posted anything in six months or so about bonuses and royalties, post a question. Most likely somebody will answer. If there's not a page for your county, you can start one.
You can generally assume that the first offer the company makes is not the highest offer they will make.
I'm looking for some info regarding lease bonus, royalty rates, drilling activity in Hampshire County or surounding areas.
I’m looking for the same advice I received papers offering me 50.00 signing bonus…lol
Debbie, $50 seems awfully low to me, even if your oil and gas property is in a county with little oil and gas activity. Which county is it in? Is this still EQT?
It’s In Marion county and yes still EQT
$50/acre in Marion County?! That's ridiculously low! I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't be offering (first offer) $1000/acre. And they should be able to negotiate up from there.
Ok thanks I haven’t signed anything sA trio.g to find out what a good starting point is