My wife and I signed and returned a mineral lease letter agreement on 11/30/2018 agreeing to lease our minerals effective 12/01/2018. We signed and returned the lease in December with the agreement that toe bonus would be paid on 01/01/2019. The letter agreement did not have any stipulation whereby the lessee could void the contract. However, the lessee has failed to honor the agreement and has not issued the bonus payment. Do I have good standing for legal action against the lessee to force payment of the bonus and/or other damages?
What’s the property description? Likely, if they did not fund the lease as was laid out in the agreement (no adequate consideration was tendered), then the lease is null and void. You can’t really force them to fund it, but you can try I guess. Realistically, they will probably just return the voided lease to you, and if they already recorded it in the appropriate county, then they’ll need to file an official release as well. If they won’t give you a voided lease and/or a signed release, and if they still won’t fund the lease, then you may need to get an attorney involved.
You need to take some action which may depend on whether or not the lease has been filed. Unfortunately, you may need the assistance of an attorney to straighten the matter out. See the directory for listing of attorneys who practice in the State where the minerals are located. The attorney does not need to be located in the county were the property is to be of assistance. If the lease has been filed, you may have several options which may not necessarily include filing a lawsuit. If the lease has not been filed demanding that it be returned un-filied might be the best option.