I, Diane, am my Mom's POA. She is the last child living of my grandparents who listed all 10 children as heirs and is 95 years old. She was contacted by BB Land through mail to sign a oil and gas lease. We tried calling Lisa Cattafesta by phone on 9/8/16 leaving two numbers for a return call. No call returned. on 9/9/16 we wrote to Brian Paugh via email to jay bee oil. No response. Any suggestions of what to do next? Should she sign lease?
If you can involve an attorney, that would be best.
I can suggest two, neither in Pleasants but both in the region.
Scott Windom in Ritchie County, directly south of Pleasants.
Kyle Nuttall in a county not too far to the southeast.
Often a company will try to get as many as possible to sign the lease offered, which is hardly ever their best offer. If you start negotiating, often they will give you better terms. Sometimes they won't. But when they get serious about drilling they will be more willing to negotiate. Both of these attorneys are very experienced in the oil and gas leasing in the northern West Virginia area, and are familiar with that the companies will and won't change. I would recommend calling both of them and talking with them a little. And read as much as you can about the leasing process, including in the counties near Pleasants, such as Doddridge, Tyler, Ritchie, and Wetzel. You can join those groups and see what is being discussed there.