Surprise checks

So my elderly mother has been cashing checks sent to her by a few different companies for the mineral rights to some land in Monongalia county West Virginia. I didn’t know anything about this until doing her taxes this year. I questioned her about it and she said the checks just started showing up so she cashed them. I thought it was a scam at first. As I said, she is elderly and I don’t always get a complete story out of her. It’s not much, about $200 a year in total. She just got a property tax bill from the county. It’s a whooping $2.19 for the year, so not a big deal. However, I have no idea why she is getting this. She has never owned any land in WV surface or mineral. the same for her deceased husband. The county has up until this point been no help. Is this a common occurrence? Is there a resource I can use to get to the bottom of this? If she has no rights to these payments we certainly want to stop them.

Your first letter should be to the company or companies sending the checks inquiring as to how your mother shows up in the chain of title. You should also inquire to the county assessor or treasurer’s office about their records showing her to be an owner.

Send all requests by certified mail return receipt. Keep copies of all correspondence.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed after 90 days. New replies are no longer allowed.