Doddridge County, WV - Oil & Gas Discussion archives

West Virginia Mineral Rights Doddridge County, WV
1742

(I hit the 4000 limit on the post below, this continues what I was about say)

As for the judge you mentioned: He contacted me by phone after the first hearing i was aware of. We seemed to have the same thing to say about one of ARC’s representatives as we both questioned why a corporation would hire him to be their rep. (That person is an outright JERK!)

The judge ended the phone call by saying it appeared that the best way to handle this matter would be to have ARC COME TO ME and work out the differences.

Much to my surprise, when the next mailing from ARC’s lawyers arrived it stated that the judge had informed them that I WAS READY TO SIGN THE CONTRACT!

I know enough about these legal games to NOT believe what the lawyers had stated in regards to the judge, but at the same time I have to ask if in fact he did say exactly that.

I have had experience with lawyers taking their client’s side in the court room but when the judge took us to his quarters to work out a problem that had developed in the court room the lawyer took my side and told me how to counter the charge, right in front of the judge.

Right now i will admit I am in the worse possible place to be when it comes to court cases: A PERSON WITH NOTHING TO LOSE WILL FOLLOW A PATH ONLY FOOLS WILL TREAD.

Not the first time, I managed to be the person that has won where “Angels fear to tread” several times in my home state. I know what happened afterword. One of my stands got the state to re-think the refusal of unemployment benefits to nine people that a certain company had fired before I was fired (for unreasonable cause the court ruled). In eight of the cases the parties were awarded benefits and the company was fined. Turns out the company was run by a group that saw each member being on the board of the others. And the companies in this area that were advertising work in my trade were mostly those companies. I finally obtained work in a position where I could use my trade experience/training, but outside of my trade. So, do you do what is right or do you accept what is wrong in order to receive a pay check?

RCR 1/28/2017

1743

This link to the WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization may be of interest… Typo frustration

http://wvsoro.org/partition-decision-circuit-court-judge-favors-min…

1744

DT - What you stated in your post is what I have noted about this ordeal. For some reason I do not think ARC really “needs” my mineral rights to the unassigned half acre in my name as more then one and a half years have passed before they started sending me the “we will take you to court” letters. From what I am seeing on this board and others ARC “slowed down” for some time and is now getting back to speed.

What you mentioned about being summoned to a hearing is also correct, I was not advised about needing a representative and they nailed me for not submitting my written statement in accordance to “Rule Ten”. They claimed I did not file certain papers when in fact I did. And as I mentioned yesterday, the only notice I have been given of a pending hearing came to me as a COPY of the notice sent to ARC by ARC’s lawyers. Yes, you read that correctly, the Plaintiff informed the defendant of the hearing, NOT THE COURT!

Someone recently said, “It’s framed, folks, it is framed”, and I see this pending “legal” action as a game ARC wants to play. They claim they are not playing but in fact they are as it is a ego trip for them. I see it as a legal and financial problem and am taking it seriously.

I on the other hand see things differently. For anyone who is thinking, “Does he know who will pay the court costs?”, if I had anything to lose I wouldn’t have gone this far. In the state of Ohio I am well qualified to have a court appointed lawyer, something I have yet to mention to this court. My job physically went to China and my health problems took away everything I had put aside. Add to that a law suit triggered by a drug dealer who is wanting to get even with me for reporting his activities to the police. (The city claims such people are not using the city code to strike out against the informing party, but they are!)

I’m thinking I’ll send word to the Doddridge court a message telling them to not waste the cost of stamps sending me the bill, I can’t pay it.

Also, as I mentioned before, ARC has not made the mistake of claiming they represent the other 264 parties involved, that would be too easy for me to disprove. But I will challenge them to prove the others are informed of the actions ARC is taking against me. Not one of the other co-owners has contacted me and that is not human nature.

So I hope that whomever post the message a few months ago stating they wanted to write a book on these gas contracts vs the private parties, and that message seems to have disappeared from the board, I hope they are taking note. From the actions being taken in the manner in which they are, there is no question that WV is owned and operated by outside contractors and the residents of the state are powerless. RCR 1/28/2017

1745

Nancy, for some reason the other co-owners either did not see the terms/conditions I did in the original contract, OR they do not have the background experience I have and therefore do not see the financial/legal problems that could come about. In all seriousness, would YOU sign a contract that states the lessee is not to be held accountable for the injury of death of workers on the job site? What is not said is the Lessor is held responsible for payment to the persons that were injured or killed. No, that is NOT there in writing, it is implied and from my experience the Lessor will be taken to court and held responsible for payment. I first became aware of the way the law works in this area decades ago when a car club placed a mention of an upcoming car meet they were holding. A person from outside the area chose to attend and cause a car accident on the way to the meet. The officers of the car club were taken to court, Third Party Liability, and found guilty. The vice president and treasurer each lost thousands of dollars, the club president lost a brand new house. Everyone asked how that could be as they had no knowledge of the person. But they advertised and by doing so became responsible for Third Party Liability.

Over the years I have seen this happen and it finally became clear why it was possible because some band paid two guys to post fliers for an upcoming show. The guys did not “post”, they plastered every surface that could hold a tack over a course 1 1/2 mile long. The property owners took the band to court and won their case. The following week a lawyer post an article in a local musician’s trade paper which suggested why a band should become a LLC and used the mentioned the above action as an example of how being a LLC would have saved the band from being taken to court. After seeing this I finally realized I was in several positions to be subjected to Third Party Liability.

I simply can not afford to find myself in such a position when it comes to involvement with Antero Resources. Their safety record in just Doddridge County, WV for the last six years is enough to warn me to stay clear of the company. And I don’t recall if I have said this on this web site, it turns out i have distant cousins from a branch of my father’s family that live in several western states, including Colorado, that have first hand experience with Antero. It is they who suggested to not get involved with the company.

Of course all of the above is past history as in the second revised contracts it is stated that the Lessee will (in my words) make an effort to protect the Lessee from third party issues. My cousins gave several examples of how the company side stepped liability in Colorado and the Lessors were still held accountable.

Another issue is the simple fact the size of the land simply can not supply enough natural gas to pay for the drilling of the well. So where is the gas going to come from to make this worthwhile? Answer: the surrounding properties. The monitor is on the well head so it can not determine whose property the gas was under. I take business ventures seriously, will I be making money off of my neighbors without their knowledge? Or, if the well is drilled on their property will I receive due payment?

It was pointed out on this board that I should have been given a chance to view a map showing the WV applied “spacing” , the effected neighbors, well bottom, etc. The company to date has refused to listen to my requests for such, they respond with, “Sign the contract or we will take you to court and we will ask the judge to force you to sell you holdings.”

Is that the way a company should respond here in the U.S.? That stance is exactly what our society refuses to accept! But WV needs the money…

1746

This link to the WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization by be of interest, a recent ruling for the mineral owner.

http://wvsoro.org/partition-decision-circuit-court-judge-favors-min…

1747

Thanks very much for the link, WV Mineral Owner. Very good decision by the Judge.

1748

Has anyone every seen Hostile Possession converted to Adverse possession with mineral rights? My cousin’s mother paid the taxes from 1994-1999 at her death. The taxes went to auction in 1999, my cousin paid to have them redeeemed in 1999. WV Hostile possession for Real Estate is 10 years. The “owner” died in 1989 intestate with no children. I have contacted ALL of her sister’s children with no answers. I am just wondering if anyone has seen these terms elsewhere? The only thing I can find is with land owners, taking adverse possession with the MR???

We had a landman working on this last year and he made no commitment to it?

1749

Charlene, someone is paying the taxes. Maybe a cousin, an aunt, etc. Until they drill the taxes will be low so nobody usually mentions a few dollars. When they drill then the taxes will be assessed higher. To create a drilling unit the company will pool other interests to make a unit. The leases will state in them about pooling and giving them the right to do so. Once you sign a lease they do not have to ask or tell you much. That’s because you gave them the right to do so through signing a lease. If you go to your lease, the lease will give you most of the info. If you have a description of the tract on your lease you should be able to get with courthouse to determine who has been paying the taxes. Hope this helps some.

1750

Charlene, Here is the link to the Doddridge online records

and Here is the link to the Doddridge tax records

It might help.

1751

I found out tuesday they are going to start drilling in june of 2018. , maybe sooner. the lady told my husband that they pooled our mineral rights on the 73 acres with others around us. I thought they had to ask before they did that. that cuts down on how much people get doesnt it? He told her I sent a change of address 5 months ago and she said they had no record of it. she was going to check and see if she could find it if not i would have to send another. This time im sending it registered mail. lol they put the well pads and everything in place and someone told my husband that comes in to where he works that they had actually started drilling on Wolf Pen Run. didnt know if it was the same place but kinda funny. Husband asked the lady at Antereo about this and she put him on hold for about 5 minutes the came back and said it didnt show any drilling on our rights. He has a vacation coming up so we’re going to run down there see whats going on. I tried to contact other members of the family that had shares but they dont speak to me anymore and wont answer a simple question. oh well. i’ll find out. Every since my Mom found out about the mineral rights 20 some years ago, she has never gotten tax papers for them. i remember her talking to my uncles and they never got papers either. do you have to pay taxes on them? should i go to the doddridge county court house and find out if there are any due? i know sounds like im rambling, but trying to find out things when other family members wont help really sucks. lol

1752

Hey Nancy, How are you doing? I just knew you would come to the rescue with some info. Great work as always. The online records are a blessing for people instead of making a trip to the courthouse. Wouldn’t it be great if it was that easy to get responses from oil companies? All would be good. Lol

1753

Hi DT Yes you’re right about how hard it often is to get replies from the companies. For Doddridge, I wish they had all of the old records online like Ritchie and Tyler and Wetzel do. But they have all the new ones and some old ones in that Doddridge database.

1754

FYI…

The latest ploy to @#$% mineral owners. A certain three letter production company is offering to “CAP” Post Production Deductions at $1.00.

Initially this seems like a great idea, $1.00 / royalty check would be a significant improvement from the 116% deduction they took from my January production. However, that is $1.00 / MCF, not gross royalty, so if they sell YOUR minerals to their subsidiary for $1.00 / MCF, this offer means they will deduct 100%. Keep in mind, THEY determine the price THEY sell to THEIR subsidiary and Fair Market Value means absolutely nothing.

Keep yourself informed, do not allow yourself to be robbed, especially if the robbers arrive in a suit with a smile, instead of a mask covering their face.

Keep strong,
WV Mineral Owner

1755

Almost all the “good” companies offer 2 options which are gross no deduction at the well or post deduction after they take the product. I compared both from a couple heirs in our family. One took post production and the other took gross no deduction at the well. The difference in the first check with back pay was significant for the same shares. The heir who signed with post production received around 35% less than the heir who had the gross at the well. I know these are the norm for most people who are offered a lease. You can take one or the other or chances are the company will file partition or bypass you. Depends on how bad they want the tract. This is an instance and others may have dealt with the company and got better or even worse. One thing for sure the companies will use every tactic to get every cent they can… Most of those tactics come in the form lies.

1756

DT, you have done a lot of research and, even though you had your share of troubles, the company you dealt with is better than many. I think I can guess the “three letter production company” that WV Mineral Owner is referring to. I have seen leases from them from a couple years ago that were hard to find a way to like, and the company was not going to compromise on important things. The new thing about the $1.00 / mcf cap on costs is even worse. Be glad you didn’t have to deal with them!

1757

Need any advice I can get. My mother signed a lease for mineral rights that no one knew she owned. Yes she got a check for the leases. I don’t even know what questions to ask cause this is all new to me. I have the leases and it tells me the tax map and parcel. That was last year and we never did any investigation work. Now she has got a new letter from same company and wants to purchase interest in 13 acres of a parcel and I am guessing she owns the land do not know at this point. this land is in Doddridge County and I am guessing now that they are getting ready to drill or something. I know I sound really dumb not knowing more than I do. Going to go to Doddridge county in WV to do research. There is a lot of research here but have not got to read much yet. Can anyone help me in what I need to do or give me advise. I am lost in doing this.

Thanks for your helping me.

1758

Darlene,

Is the company looking to “purchase” the interest in the 13 acres or lease them? This is a Major difference. If you provide me with the Tax Map and Parcel number, I will provide you with a map that will show the specific location.

Lastly, if it is to Purchase, I would Strongly suggest you NOT sell.

Feel free to email me directly on this site if you wish.

WV

1759

thanks for your advice. and i so appreciat the dollar amounts cause i have no idea of what to expect or even if a permit to put a well has been applied for yet. still digging to learn as much as i can.

1760

To Wv mineral owner

I never received your inbox message with the maps you said you found for me.

1761

the letter says request to purchase interest. Letter starts our research of the Doddridge County, WV records indicate that you own a portion of gross acres in Cove, District, Doddridge County, WV. We believe you own approximately 13 net acres of this tract and then gives a dollar amount they will pay.