I own mineral rights in Tarrant County, Texas. In 2022, I moved and failed to update my mailing address with the operator. Because of that, one of my royalty checks was returned, and my account was eventually placed in suspense. In 2023, the company remitted approximately $1,293 in unpaid royalties to the Texas Unclaimed Property Division.
The wells continued producing after my account was placed in suspense, but I did not receive any additional royalty payments from mid-2023 through 2026. Nothing has been reported to the state since the payment in 2023. When I contacted the company, they initially stated they had no record of any payments or activity during that time. After multiple follow-ups, I received only an $8.41 payment along with a 485-page accounting document that contains royalty payments, reversals, corrections, and duplicate adjustment entries, making it extremely difficult to determine what I have actually been paid or what is still owed.
I’ve requested a complete suspense ledger and a full accounting of my owner account, but I they have continually failed to provide the records. I still don’t have a clear explanation of what happened to the royalties that accrued while my account was in suspense. I also have concerns that the accounting records provided are incomplete or inconsistent.
My husband and I are considering hiring a lawyer. The lawyers says they can try to solve the issue over the phone or with a demand letter but that will cost $2000, or maybe more, depending on how stubborn the operator is with them.
On the one hand, it’d be nice to have the issue resolved with a lawyer but $2000 is a lot of money. We anticipate receiving 2-3k back from the 3 years my account was in suspense but that’s just an estimate. And all of that would be spend on attorney fees because the company is refusing to pay me. Any advice?