In this case what you have stated could have ended at the end of the first paragraph. The contract mentions no name as the original property owner, no names for following property owners.
Here is the actual wording of the contract:
(Reference made to parcel numbers) "Being also the same interest acquire by the Lessor by Will dated September 22. 1967 and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of the County Commission in the county of Ritchie, State of West Virginia, filed as Deed Book 11, Page 157." That tells me NOTHING! I have no idea as to who's will is being discussed.
Following the above it states: "It being the purpose and intent of the Lessor to lease..." Really? I have major problems with unknown parties sending me unexpected letters telling me what (they think) is my intentions. All these court cases come about because someone fails to put ideas into people's heads that favor the party trying to obtain access to property without having to pay a single cent. My situation came about because THEY failed, the owner was fully aware that he had no knowledge of owning the land and now wants to know all the facts before taking a stand on the situation.
Far to many people have lost everything they owned because they did not take the time to learn ALL of the facts before signing an unsolicited contract. As I have stated throughout my discussions on this web site, I have seen a person lose a house custom built a year before because someone he did not know, a person from another area, set off for an advertised event the person was involved with, and caused an auto accident.
This event had all the people in Central Ohio who took part in auto meets asking how that could happen. Now we are well aware of the Third Party Liability aspects of the law. The person who lost the house was the president of a car club and the club's officers listed the event in a national auto enthusiast magazine and that made the club liable. And since the club was not incorporated as an LLC the club officers were required to pay.
I have since seen the same results for something as simple as a local band handing two guys to "post" an upcoming appearance of the band. The band failed to realize that as a result of that action the band had "employed" the two guys and were responsible for accidents/problems the guys caused (they plastered any surface that could hold a tack for more then a mile down the street next to a major college. The last 100 yards was the property of the college and the band was sued for the cost of removing the fliers.)
There are endless numbers of variations of this Third Party Liability in which a unsuspecting party gets sued. Considering the fact that signing a contract with ARC gives the Lessor NO VOICE in the operations, the nature of the substance they are collecting, and ARC's safety record, why would anyone agree to one of their contracts?
Are all of the people on this board so greedy for money that they don't bother to think of what could go wrong??? What I find interesting is the first contract I received from ARC for property in Doddridge County came right out and stated the corporation would not be held responsible for injury or death of one of their employees while on the job. That means, though they did not take the "trouble" of stating it, the Lessor would be held responsible in a court of law.
And the state of West Virginia and the fools that sign such contracts are doing nothing to prevent this.
And what I have stated above is only the FIRST problem I found with ARC's contracts...
RCR 2/25/2017