I signed a lease December 21,2013 and the oil company has not filed with county clerk. Is there a time limit they have to abide by? I have been approached by another company wanting to lease my mineral rights. They told me the other company had apparently not filed the lease.
Did the first company pay you for the lease?
I have not received my check yet. I have tried calling the Landman and he will not return my calls. I left a message at the Oil company and he still won't return my calls.
Jordan Murray said:
Did the first company pay you for the lease?
JANET RAINEY said:
I have not received my check yet. I have tried calling the Landman and he will not return my calls. I left a message at the Oil company and he still won't return my calls.
Jordan Murray said:Did the first company pay you for the lease?
Janet:
I am uncertain of Texas law in this regard, but general contract law would state that you have signed a contract with the first oil company whether or not that oil company has recorded the lease. Recording a document is to let others know about your contract. As to your rights, however, you have contracted with the first oil company for a specific period of time and therefore you no longer have the right to lease the property. If you believe that the first oil company no longer wishes to have the lease, ask them for a signed release or quit claim.
Hope this helps.
Jean M. Pledger
Thanks for the info. I just received a FED-EX package with a new lease. Seems that the "other" leasing agent
did not process paperwork correctly. As of today, I do not have a valid lease with them.
You probably never did. There is the consideration issue.
Insist on exchanging the signed lease for a check. The first group was probably shopping your lease and trying to flip it.
I'm sure no expert here, so I would definitely rely on what Wade says; however, there is evidently no real timeline for filing a lease. My reasoning is that in 2010 I pulled a fairly large group of mineral owners together that had property contiguous to mine. There were about 10 people in the group. We all signed our leases along with a Memorandum in the attorney's office where we promptly got our check with the signature. My personal lease Memo was filed within days after we singed; however, my daughter had a lease in this group and it was not filed for over 18 months. Who knows why; but, that is my personal experience. My strong suggestion is not to ever sign a lease or Memorandum or for that matter a commitment letter without the attorney being directly involved. In my case, I will never sign a lease without the lease and money in the hands of the attorney. That way I know what's going on. These guys peddling leases for signature are magicians at deception and that's the only way I personally know how to keep track.
What does shopping your lease and trying to flip it mean?
It sounds like another possibility is that they lost the lease. Another one would be that a lease broker took the lease, and a disagreement followed over compensation, and the lease broker refused to submit the lease. You don't know. It sounds like they never had a good lease because of a lack of consideration. It also would not be at all unreasonable to not have recorded a lease taken in December of 2013. Texas isn't a race to the courthouse state, so there is less incentive to record quickly.
As far as shopping the lease and trying to flip it, I see why he might think that, but it may not be the case. It sounds like something just happened to the lease.
The answer to your question is that it was speculated that someone took the signed lease, and tried to sell it to someone else, then upon that sale, pay the lessor with the funds obtained. I think that was the implication.
Mrs. Rainey,
I ran into the same thing, just about the same time frame. Your land was not by any chance restricted Indian land was it? Since my portion is restricted Indian land, it has to be approved by the Court in which the land is located, then signed off on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This could take a couple of years before payment is made.
No, that isn't the issue. The issue is that a lease was taken and either lost or mislaid or withheld. She was never paid for that lease, so under general contract law the lease will fail for lack of consideration. However, she never informed what the original agreement was regarding consideration. They send her yet another lease. At this point, she should re-contact the second company who called her about leasing. She owes the first group nothing.
Linda, The reason they did not pay you and came back and claimed they had lost the lease, is possibly because they were looking for someone to buy the lease from them for a profit and use the money to pay you.
Jeff:
That's good information and good to know!
Thanks
Jeff Moses said:
If you were not paid then no "consideration" was paid and there is no valid lease. You can send a certified demand letter to the Lessee (party A) putting them on notice you are to be paid by xx date or the lease is invalid--In the State of Texas first to the courthouse is the valid lease so after you notify the lessee you have not been paid and will be leasing it to another party then go ahead and lease it to party B but request a check this time and in the future.
signed,
34 yr landman
Actually, Jeff, Texas is a race notice state, not a pure race state as you implied. Louisiana, for example, is a pure race state. It is likely that her property is in Oklahoma, per her profile. Oklahoma is either a notice state or a race notice state. Not a pure race state.
A bona fide purchaser for value has a preferred status against another bona fide purchaser for value, as long as there was no actual or constructive notice.
Actual notice would certainly include telling the landman "Hey, I already leased the land. Wasn't it in the records?" The landman who visiting the farmer and sees a drilling unit on the property has received inquiry notice. See the lease filed in the records imparts constructive notice.
There is a lot more information here on Texas recording laws:
http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1267.pdf
and for Okies
look up
OKLAHOMA STATUTES AND CODES
Title 16. Conveyances
for more information.
Buddy Cotten
Jeff Moses said:If you were not paid then no "consideration" was paid and there is no valid lease. You can send a certified demand letter to the Lessee (party A) putting them on notice you are to be paid by xx date or the lease is invalid--In the State of Texas first to the courthouse is the valid lease so after you notify the lessee you have not been paid and will be leasing it to another party then go ahead and lease it to party B but request a check this time and in the future.
signed,
34 yr landman
Interesting theory. The only thing that I can't reconcile is if that is the case, why would they need to go through that ruse and trouble of Fed Exing an entirely new lease to her? They have the lease and need to lie to her that they lost it? Maybe they really did. They are trying to flip it and apparently failed, so they tell her that they lost it. Why? To buy more time? Interesting. An elaborate ruse. They would have the lease under that theory. Why would she need to sign another, I wonder.
All she has to do is demand a check before she signs, or better yet sign with the second company. The first company may no longer be deserving of it.
Texas is not a pure race state. I mentioned that earlier.
Wade Caldwell said:
Linda,
The reason they did not pay you and came back and claimed they had lost the lease, is possibly because they were looking for someone to buy the lease from them for a profit and use the money to pay you.
That's actually a common misconception, even among 34 year landmen. That the landman with the fastest car, and the one who records first, always wins. If you look at all 50 states, that is actually the minority. Definitely not the case in Texas. It is a Race-Notice state. Not a Race state.
Dave, Jeff and Buddy:
This is all excellent and interesting discussion about this situation. I believe one thing that we should have learned from this discussion is to get your money along with the signature or at a minimum get the money in the attorney's escrow account before the signing and let the attorney hold both until the O.K is given on title search. Limit that title search time to a minimum.
Of course that doesn't help out the situation that started this discussion.
Dave Quincy said:
That's actually a common misconception, even among 34 year landmen. That the landman with the fastest car, and the one who records first, always wins. If you look at all 50 states, that is actually the minority. Definitely not the case in Texas. It is a Race-Notice state. Not a Race state.
Dave, I am assuming the second lease was different than the first, and possibly with a different company. Leases do get lost, but the lack of a check and the lost lease smells like a lease flipper.
Dave Quincy said:
Interesting theory. The only thing that I can't reconcile is if that is the case, why would they need to go through that ruse and trouble of Fed Exing an entirely new lease to her? They have the lease and need to lie to her that they lost it? Maybe they really did. They are trying to flip it and apparently failed, so they tell her that they lost it. Why? To buy more time? Interesting. An elaborate ruse. They would have the lease under that theory. Why would she need to sign another, I wonder.All she has to do is demand a check before she signs, or better yet sign with the second company. The first company may no longer be deserving of it.
Texas is not a pure race state. I mentioned that earlier.
Wade Caldwell said:Linda,
The reason they did not pay you and came back and claimed they had lost the lease, is possibly because they were looking for someone to buy the lease from them for a profit and use the money to pay you.