I wanted to ask about an incorrect address listed on an administrative filing with the OCC. This address is for an investment property that is an empty lot. Another oil company recently listed yet another investment property address on their filing for me. I have never used any of these incorrect addresses, and any Mineral Deeds or conveyances regarding oil and gas interests and investment properties list my correct mailing address. Any idea where or in what database these incorrect addresses are being obtained or listed so I can attempt to get the source of the incorrect data corrected?
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In most cases this information is provided by the Company that is conducting the proceedings. I suggest contacting the attorney for the Applicant via email and inform them of the incorrect address.
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This has been happening to me and my family for years.. Operator MRC was sending force pool notices to address we have never lived . I sent certified letters to operators land department and their attorneys this continue to happen several times. I went back and pulled others who were force pooled unrelated to me or my family and the same address was used a couple of times. I believe it’s sloppy and lazy title work. regardless it’s the job of the land company doing title. And I want to finish this with facts our address are of record I have lived in same home for more than 25 years. And my address is recored to my deeds and many other recorded documents they would have pulled.
Disclaimer that I am not familiar with OK notice requirements. Perhaps in the future you should not only send a complaint to OCC that you have previously notified MRC or other company of address correction and that it is persisting. Perhaps OCC will delay the process until all the addresses are corrected. Or the applicant may have to change to public notice in the newspaper.
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From working in Oklahoma, I would do two things. Make sure that your name and address and title documents (probates, address of trusts, LLCs, affidavits of heirship, etc.) are filed with the recorder of deeds in every county in Oklahoma where you own minerals. The county is where the land men start on the title work.
Second, when you get that first mailed document for new activity, notify the attorney it came from and also the owners relations department of the operator that all correspondence should be sent to XXXX.
I feel your pain. We have had the same Post Office Box for over 60 years and we still get errors.
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Most of these are sloppy errors for which Applicants need to be held accountable. What do you think about NARO trying to push legislation for a Public Advocate for all OCC Pooling/Spacing actions? At a minimum it could stop the antiquated practice and highly producer favorable practice of the default election of a 1/8th royalty.
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ROCO (Royalty Owners Coalition of Oklahoma) has representatives at our OK NARO convention going on this week in OKC. I will see several of them this afternoon at our board meeting. Will bring that issue up. Thanks for bringing it up!
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I feel your pain. It is 100% sloppy/lazy work on the part of land departments or surrogates. I have never (OCC notice requirements are very strict) had a problem with notice in my 40+ years in the business and owning varied interests from Grady to Beckham Counties. Recently they somehow picked up my SON (same name as mine) and now he is getting my notices and phone calls. He is only listed in the OK County Assessors office. No one is checking records because there is no way my legal address of record can be mistaken for his. Once it happened others are grabbing the incorrect address off the Exhibit “A”. They get around the strict notice compliance because they claim I have had “constructive” notice since my son received it and the assumption is that he didn’t throw it in the trash as junk mail!!
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Same with our family, we have names that are almost exact but wrong address.
Followup on the 1/8th issue. I spoke with several of our very experienced attorneys and land men this afternoon about the 1/8th and pooling issue. The attorney said that if ONE person signs a 1/8th lease, then the operator can use that one lease to put 1/8th in the pooling since the market will bear it. Now if we can convince every mineral owner in OK to push back and not sign a 1/8th lease, then we will have more poolings with the floor at 3/16ths.
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The rules of testimony require that the witness testify to the specific bonuses paid for specific royalty interest leases. That includes all amounts paid for any leases that you have knowledge of even if it is not a lease the applicant took. A fair market value is established for the standard royalty tiers from 12.5% to 25% based on transactions. The pooling order can have a 12.5% offer even if a lease wasn’t taken. A value is established based on the other bonuses paid. It is almost always included because unleashed parties , unknown address entities or a holdout will be deemed to have taken the one eighth option if they don’t respond within the time window established by the legal issuance the Order.
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Thank you for the extra clarity.
The basis for the default 1/8th is where a Public Advocate can apply some pressure. Rather than the wink and nod acceptance by the OCC of the default, a simple question to basis that requires proof rather than testimony or affidavit can make adjustments that are market realities. I need to read the statutes related to this issue, but my memory is that the 1/8th may be statutory.
I have always been my understanding that the 1/8th royalty was statutory in the State of Oklahoma.
I have no idea what the statistics are but my guess is that the 1/8th lease is much rarer than we all suspect.