Ms. Donovan, I am glad you got paid finally. I guess I will be stirring muck here and ask if you received the interest they owe you ? If they paid you, you did not have a title problem and it was their mistake. They owe you interest.
R W No, I rec'd no interest. I did ask for it. The Co. position is the title was not clear. therefore no interest owed. I think the title could not have been more clear and it was recorded at the county court house. So , I have to decide if it's worth the time, money, and aggravation to pursue it. My atty. cc'd the CEO, and other high ranking exec's and threaten to sue and also charge elder abuse to get their attention. It was really a hassle.
If you didn't have to do anything to clear your title then the mistake was theirs. They should have paid you interest or nothing until you removed the cloud from your title. Just my opinion but if you let them slide anywhere, they may think that you always will and they may not make as much effort to keep these little errors like not paying you and not paying interest from cropping up. I don't want anything I'm not entitled to, but I won't accept anything less either.
R W What steps do I take to collect the interest ? Do I have to sue or is there someone I could report it to. I know their position, so it will not be easy. Thanks
Ms. Donovan, have they even ever told you what the supposed cloud on your title was ? I personally have had landmen working for the oil company make mistakes and cloud my title, they did not get to benefit from it. There was a recent ND law passed that they have to pay interest whether you ask for it or not. Before, they only had to pay it if you ask. Since it is in the Century Code, I would try the NDIC and if they won't do anything I would sue. If your title was bad, why would they pay you royalty ? I also do not see how they could have cleared up YOUR title or any cloud on it if it wasn't of their making, the oil company has no control over the chain of documents leading up to your deed, it seems to me you would have to have been involved, and you weren't. I would at the very least make them show me the title defect that they say absolves them from paying the interest they owe by law.
Ms. Donovan, I think you may get a close idea of what they may owe you in interest if you figure out how many months past due they were and how much the well produced. If they paid you 17 months after first sales they were a year late and that would be 18% interest on the first month (often best) production, 16.5% on second months production and so on. It could be considerable money even if it's only for 6 months, probably the best 6 months of the life of the well and possibly be more than you will receive for the wells production in year 5. I wonder how much they owe you ? I would be glad to help you calculate it, just tell me which well and when they first paid you in a private message, if you feel the need to keep it private.