We signed with an outfit called 4 star resources, Chesapeake I assume bought the lease from them.
We haggled before signing to get out of the costs of compressions, transportation etc.
At the end of the lease is stapled the form "Exhibit A" which relieves us of any responsibility to pay these cost, both my wife and I signed it, only us.
Isnt Chesapeake legally bound to whatever agreement we signed with 4 star?
I talked to Chesapeake lawyer, told him the deal. And that we would fight it in court if need be.
Meanwhile we will mail them a copy of the exhibit A.
Note, the lease itself says we would have to pay costs, the addendum called exhibit A says we would NOT have to pays costs.
It looks to me as if Chesapeake has found some legal loophole and intends to cheat us out of costs, which are supposed to be 20-25% of our royalty income.
I have wondered about this as I compile documentation on some leases I have been working with. I have seen a few that have been filed and have an appendix/exhibit A as a 2nd page to the lease. Some of the statements contradict the actual lease it is attached to. Only the lease itself was signed by both parties, the appendix/exhibit is not. At least in the ones I have looked up at the courthouse still have it attached. But it could have been just as easily not filed with the attachment.
My thought is because only my wife and I signed exhibit A, and not 4 Star or Chesapeake, that their lawyers see the loophole and intend to exploit it by saying they never agreed to it.
Meanwhile I have emailed 4 star asking their opinion.
Best case is they never seen exhibit A and once I mail it to them they will honor it.
Worst case is I get cheated out of 20-25%, after I take them to court.
I wont just give up without a fight. Looks to me like 4 star should have also signed the form.
Dear Mr. Eastwood,
Sometimes the unsuspecting have no protection.
If an attorney drafted your lease, shame on him.
If you decided to have a do it yourself lease form, you shot yourself in the foot.
Not knowing any better we just signed the lease they presented us, after speed reading it.
22.5% and no added costs seems like a fair enough deal.
I will look at the other thread now.
Hi to all when I get done helping someone RAISE A MILLION DOLLARS I will be on a Ja had excuse spelling i really dont KARE HEHE I have friend who has friend who works 4 National NEWS CHANNEL I will HELP ALL We will bring attention to TEXAS YUK YUK TRUST ME I will try to contact MR BOONE PICKENS so Please B patient with Crazy PHIL Ya Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I thought he had crawled back into his hole. : )
Buddy Cotten said:
Must be a full moon.
Chesapeake toldf us the costs would be about 25% deducted, this month our check looked to be slashed 50% for production costs. I am emailing them the agreement we signed (exhibit A) that states we will not be charged for production costs.
I need a lawyer, but is it worth it on 1/4 acre? This really pisses me off.
They should honor the agreement they bought from 4 star which I made with 4 star.
1 Like
Let's not forget the horrific attack on our country almost exactly 10 years ago as I type this. The 3,000 men, women and children who died that day did nothing but show up where they were supposed to be.
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!
Exhibits are amendments to the lease .You are in good shape and the company which will operate the produceing well must follow the terms of the lease.If not you will need to go to court and they will in the end have to pay interest on the money you have been shorted.
This is NOT an uncommon lease situation.
Agree Wes,
And lets never forget who did this to us or the religion they followed.
Lee,
I faxed them the amendment and talked to the Chesapeake lawyer for about 15 minutes on the phone.
She said she would look into it. She was actually friendly. But she is also the one who sent me to letter about them charging costs so she probably had already seen my amendment and thought she could exploit a loophole.
If that doesnt work I will try to find a cheap lawyer, but they know it isnt cost effective for me to fight this for 1/4 acre. I will post any updates.
Rob
This is an example of why we must pay attention to our business at all times.
I agree Lee.
We thought we had it all covered.
It also an example of fighting those who would cheat us.
Win or lose I am not just going to accept this unethical treatment without a fight.
I know full well I cant compete against Chesapeake lawyers, or afford a lawyer who can.
Maybe I will get on their nerves enough they will do the right thing.
Its all about money, greed. Never about whats right anymore.
They stand to make a killing on our lease even with paying the costs they agreed to.
But noooooooooooo...more more more money.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
I do not need the money really, the principle is more important to me at this point.
All those in this situation should bring a class action on Chesapeake.
I would surely join it.
I know I am responding to this post almost two years after the fact, but I am so frustrated with Chesapeake I don't know what to do. The production costs really are a rip off as far as I'm concerned, but what has really has me angry is the fact they just quit sending checks. I had to email them to complain about not getting checks. Here's the email chain to Chesapeake:
Robert,
A check will be issued for your account this week. This will be mailed out on Thursday.
Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Thank you,
Revenue Team
From:
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 9:58 AM
To: Revenue Inquiry
Cc:
Subject: Royalty Payments
To Who it may concern;
My name is Frank R. Short and I am a Lessee in HOG A in Burleson, TX. I forget the lease number, but I believe the well numbers are 33723 1H and 33720 4H.
My address is:
XXX XXXXX Dr.
Burleson, TX 76028
My concern is royalty checks, or should I say the lack of royalty checks. I believe I have only received one royalty check in the last eight or so months. I am watching the price of natural gas rise as well as seeing new rigs deployed throughout the area. The RRC GIS Viewer shows our wells have been active this whole time. When can I expect to get my royalty checks again, and when will I be compensated for back pay?
Regards,
Frank R. Short
Well, I received the check yesterday and the amount was an astounding $77.29 for two wells. It includes back pay to September, 2012.
I've been watching the price of gas rise to the same level it was when I received my first royalty check back in 2010 for $150.00 for one well for one month. Drilling rigs are going back up. Something is just not right, and I think we are all being ripped off. What can anyone in these home owners groups do to challenge this? I'm starting to think I would have been better off selling the mineral rights. I would definitely be ahead of where I am at now!
Frank,
Join the crowd. I wish I had a nickel for every message on this board complaining about CHK. They are the worst of the worst, and you're right about them. They know we can't afford the big ticket lawyers so they do what they please. Kinda reminds me of Obama. I hope you have a nice Easter and good luck with getting your money from CHK.
Yours,
Wes Luke
!
Just an additional "heads up" for those having issues with Chesapeake. We have clients who are currently with Chesapeake and boy is their entire situation a mess. From our experiences, you guys will definitely want to verify their volumes and their pricing. We are finding a significant amount of errors in these areas. It takes some time and a little knowledge, but it may be WELL worth your time to look into this as well. If they are taking advantage of you in other areas, they are likely shorting you on your volumes and pricing as well.
Michael Gutierrez
Michael,
Sometimes ending up with CHK is not a choice. On two separate leases I had leased to XYZ Oil and after some time I went searching for ownership since I was no longer receiving my well logs on production. Come to find out it was CHK. They bought out my lease. We can't seem to get away from them no matter how much we hate dealing with them. :(((
Yours,
Wes Luke
I completely understand Wes. There are so many factors that play into which company you ultimately have leasing your minerals. Some times you have more say than others in who will lease. Don't give up trying to get away from them though. Diligent research and documentation can be your friend. From what we have personally seen in both the Eagle Ford and the Barnett, you can possibly dig up enough lease violations to either seriously renegotiate or terminate the lease all together. I sincerely hope your situation works out.
michael