A little over 120 days ago we signed a lease with the above for a 500 dollar signing bonus and 15% royalties.
The lease said they would pay the bonus within 120 days.
They never paid.
We sent Equitrans L.P. a certified letter requesting payment of the signing bonus, along with a copy of our lease agreement.
Today, we were notified via email by an Equitrans L.P. manager stating that we need to reach out to EQT Production to get the signing bonus money as that our lease is now with them.
What is the best way to deal with this?
If you sent the certified letter to the address that was shown on the lease (or associated documents) then I think you would be right in believing that the lease is not valid. However, just to be safe, I would also send one to whoever the manager said you should.
Last week one of our clients was told that EQT was short on cash and focusing on specific areas, and wouldn’t be paying on a lease we negotiated. Frustrating, but EQT is working in areas where other companies are working, so you could possibly lease to them. In Tyler, for example, you should check with Antero, JayBee, and Tribune. They might be interested in taking a lease in your part of Tyler.