Martin County sent me a tax notice that I own a percentage of royalties in that counties oil wells. I never previously knew I had these royalties nor have I received any checks from them. Don’t the oil producers notify the state of the people they owe royalties too and their addresses? I discovered there are nine wells that are producing and I have a percentage. How do I get a copy of the division documents. Do I contact the land departments of Lario and MWS to get these documents and inform them of what Martin County says. Is there a way to find out who they are paying these royalties out too if they are indeed paying them to somebody other than me. Thank You!
pay the tax amount. not all courthouses send you such nice news. you might want to notify all other counties in TEXAS as to your present adress. whoever gave you that lease position could quite possibly have given you more.
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Good answer, but this doesn’t answer my questions. I am illiterate except for what I have able to Google and find in searches. If someone knowledgeable about these things can instruct me it would be helpful. I have many companies wanting to buy these royalty rights current record amount is 60k. There is a lot I just don’t know about these things. Thanks.
if what you say is true, that you own royalties in Martin, and have never been paid a cent, 1. do contact other courthouses with your present adress. it cant hurt you. and 2. i have a grand daughter who will need a husband/wife in about 11 years. 2.B. you hit lotto. please inform the class here about any future developements concerning your new found wealth.
You can check to see if $ has been held in suspense by the operator/producer. The oil companies hold funds in suspense until they are contacted by the owner and given your contact info, etc. If they don’t get contacted within a few years, they have to deposit the funds with the state of Texas. Texas has an unclaimed property website run by the state comptroller where you can search for funds held for you. Bottom line: contact the Martin county clerk in Stanton, TX, and the oil company(s). The landman for the oil company should be helpful in providing the information you want.
My wife also received a Notice of Appraised Value form Martin County indicating a RI on Lario’s Arnold unit in early November. I contacted everyone including the MCAD who tells me these do not go out unless they have a D/O filed from the operator of record (or the pipeline purchaser), in this case Lario in Denver. I contacted Lario’s office in Stanton, they were very nice and helpful, and referred me to Anne King who is the D/O specialist for Lario in Denver, I called that day (which just happened to be the day they were moving offices and had no phones), so called the next and left a message with no response. Called again when the tax bills proper started showing up about mid December, again no response. Called again between Christmas and New Years, no response. More bills from the different taxing entities in Martin County (Road & Bridge, Water District, Hospital, etc) so called again January 2, no response. Finally this Sunday past the 4th, I went on the Lario website and found the owner relations email address, sent a detailed email with all pertinent legal info and anthology of the issue, and you guessed it, no reply thus far. Just letting me know they had received my message, even if they did not have an answer would be the courteous and business-like thing to do, but no. So, upshot of this epistle is, save yourself some time and go straight to the demand letter stage from an attorney (which is my next step), and maybe you’ll hear from somebody at Lario…someday. Have no dealings with MWS so can’t help you there.
All the best and good luck,
DB
Lana: Not sure how to proceed as still no reply from Lario. I have paid all taxes, but sounds like I ought to get in touch with you…not quite sure how this is done.
DB
DB, Send a notarized letter to Anne King with the information and copy Lario’s in-house counsel. By Texas statute, they have 30 days to respond. If they don’t, then you can bring suit and if you win, they have to pay your attorney’s fees. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. I am in a similar situation with Sabine, and have a lease with Lario in Martin. I read the Texas statute. I found the in-house counsel from LinkedIn, but you may be able to get it from the office in Stanton. I suggest being politely persistent. And no, there does not have to be a signed division order for taxes to be due. There does have to be oil. If they don’t have your address, then they can hold your money.
DB -
Did you get it handled to your satisfaction yet?
Thanks! Lana
Thanks for asking but no, not a word from them as yet.
I took your reply on the Forum to mean a Certified/Return Receipt, sort of demand letter which I’ve been trying to formulate in my mind.
I’ve already paid the taxes.
I also sent a snail-mail letter to the Martin App. District back in January with all details and asking how to get a refund should this bill prove erroneous with no reply from them either (which was a surprise actually as they’ve always been good on the phone).
The interest is only about a tenth of a percent but that could turn in to some money with as many wells as they have now (4) and more to come. This is my wife’s interest through her father and grandfather; her grandfather is the one, along with his partner, who bought the entire Slaughter Ranch back in 1957. I’m assuming her 3 siblings got the same notice as everything they have in Martin, Dawson, and Reagan counties is all split 4 ways between them…so between them they’d have just shy of 4/10’s of a percent.
I hate to go straight to the demand letter stage but I can’t get anyone to call me back either yay or nay.
Any suggestions other than to start playing hardball? I do have a nephew who is an attorney in San Angelo and is pretty familiar with the Courthouse in Martin, but have been trying to keep him out of it.
Thanks,
DB
Hi DB -
Quite a few people I know have been getting division orders in the mail from Lario during this week and last week. I feel confident you will get some soon if you haven’t already. Is your mailing address correct with Martin Appraisal District? If it is, you should be getting some soon.
If not, here is some contact info for you: Owner relations: 800-865-5611 [email protected] Lario Oil & Gas Company Post Office Box 29 Denver, CO 80201-0029
Lana
I believe you are one if my cousins from my grandmother’s side. Her name was Straub also.
Caroline
Thanks Lana very much for the reply and information! I certainly hope you are correct and we get something in the mail but as of March 28, still nothing. Quite honestly I have my doubts, as other than the return receipt from the certified letter I sent giving all details including address and 3 phone numbers to Lario, absolutely no reply to any correspondence which at best is bad business practice, and at it’s worst is bush league operations. The O’Shaunessy’s reputation as I know it is better than that, oddly enough. All the best and will keep our fingers crossed, DB
Now late night April 6 with no reply or D/O from Lario. DB
Hi DB -
I reached out to a contact I have at Lario about your situation. If they can help, I will get you their contact info so that you can correspond directly with them if you like.
Thanks! Lana
That would be great!
Not sure if I’m able to put my phone in here so not sure how to get in touch.
My letter had all 3 of my numbers but the one ending in 1238 is best.
Thanks again
DB
Thanks for the reply…this deal has really gotten bazaar. Looking at Martin CAD tax records last night I found a tax receipt paid by my sister-in-law for the same full section 46 decimal interest my wife has but was shown as an interest in my deceased mother in laws name, which had been mailed to my sister-in-law. Both same decimal, both with Lario as operator, my wifes name and address correct, and her sisters address correct but owner name of their mother who’s been dead for about 10 years…and before you ask, yes, AOH is filed in Martin County about 3-4 years ago. Not a big fan of Lario’s legal department to be sure. I think our next move is a demand letter from our nephew-in-law San Angelo lawyer, but he may need some land man help too so please forward contact info as you can, but Lana Straub offered to help first which I appreciate. Point being, we should not have to do this. First well in this section permitted in June of 2018 with W-2 completion not filed until June of 2019, and now we’re in April of '20 with not one document from Lario. Pretty much tells you what we’re dealing with. Best to all and appreciate all the input. DB
No, nothing from Lario til yet. Did go back and confirm with Pritchard and Abbott and printed that out from their website my wife’s interest. I’m going to call the gent who takes care of Martin County for P&A and see if he has any ideas, and verify who wrote the division order, both the Operator and Attorney’s name. I have heard from several different sources including the Martin CAD Lario is notorious for slow D/O’s but the first well in this section was completed 2 years ago next month according to the RRC Completion Report W-2 which seems a little slow even for rookies, much less an experienced operator like Lario. The other 3 wells were completed through last fall towards the end of the year which would just be terribly slow instead of fraudulently slow in my opinion. From what I’ve heard, from the one production guy of theirs I talked to back in November, if we ever do see a D/O, it will be a hell of a check…if we ever see it. Any ideas you’d put forth? Thanks, DB
Hard to believe, but actually had a conversation with a live human from Lario, Karen Miller, a D/O person out of the Wichita office. No reason given for being incommunicado for 6 months of attempted contacts, but the certified demand letter did the trick. She said they didn’t have father-in-laws address, yet had all the kids addresses for the Martin CAD to send tax bills, but said they did not have Affidavit of Heirship, so how’d they know of the 4 kids, so now we’re at the point where we sent the death certificate in and that should do it. Said she could see the father in laws interest, no issues with that, but had no idea who wrote the D/O or how the Tax Office knew to notify us of taxes due at which point I called B/S. Appears to be a classic slow play as the first well in this unit was completed in November 2018 and the other 3 this past November (an A, B, and L/S). I told her I expected D/O’s within 30 days of D/C receipt which was this past Friday one week ago, so 3 weeks to go. Will keep advised.
DB - Great to hear you got in touch and glad the demand letter worked. I call B/S as well on what they told you. It’s always best to fight those fights with representation like you did.