We are looking for any advice/help regarding our land we own in Dimmit County. We have found out after negotiating a SWD lease earlier this year that another individual/company has a larger plot of land that they purchased in 2007 that includes the two lots/10 acres total that we own. After making several contacts and being assured the land was ours, we finally had local tax/appraisal offices find the issue and the long and short of it is that we both have the deed to the land wth no real good explanation.
The land has been in our family for decades and this company has owned it since 2007 and was originally purchased in 2005... We have a longer standing in ownership, but I am unfamiliar in Texas laws, or if there is a way we could have the land taken out from us without prior notice or foreclosure of which we never received. I am not for sure how quick claim deeds work either? From records in Dimmit, both us and other "owners" have paid taxes on the land and they have both down separately to have deeds to the land.
We have not lost our Mineral rights, but have lost out on a lucrative SWD lease that we negotiated in January and have been told that we don't have much of a shot of proving or winning back our surface rights to the land... (we just don't know if that is true or if our lawyer is not willing to get into this battle?)
We certainly want to fight this if we have the opportunity to win, but don't want to get caught up in a costly legal battle with little or no guarantee of winning?
Anyone that has been through this or heard of this type of thing happening, we would appreciate your input/advice as we don't wish to pay high costs to try to win our case. We have a lot of unanswered questions and want to make sure we have exhausted all options of making sure the land we have inherited and have paid taxes on ends up being OUR LAND...
I think the definition of quitclaim is that the person is giving up all claim to a described property that they have at that moment in time. If there were prior reservations, those reservations would still stand because a person can't give or sell something they don't have. I think you need to look at the property description on the quitclaim.
I am not sure if the other landowner has a quitclaim deed or not? I don’t know much about it other than the holder’s name (it is a company). There was never any contact made with our family regarding the land being titled to the other company in 2005… I am curious why a title search did not bring up our family’s ownership. I am checking with a title company and possibly an attorney this week to get more info… I am trying to figure out if our land was taken over and by what process… I will research and see what type of deed it is. Thank you for the insight!
Mr. Bullard I think you need to start with your deed. Make sure that it gives you unambiguous title to the surface. I would then have a title search done to make sure that the seller from decades ago owned and and could sell me the surface. If you can assure yourself of that, I would then dig in and not give up my land. After you are sure the deed/chain of title says you own it, I would look for the right lawyer to file my slander of title case. Good luck.
Having just read what you posted in the Dimmet county group, I think you may need a trial litigator who will work on a contingency basis, if you have rock solid title. The company that claims your land wouldn’t want to pay their lawyers, pay your lawyers, pay damages for slander of title and lose the property in the end anyway if your title is good. I would develop your case to the extent you can then hire someone to check your title and the company’s title so you could lay the facts before a lawyer, make it attractive, do the legwork. Good luck whatever you decide.
This is because 1) if land is not being used that's not good for the state, and 2) at some point title must be settled and possession is the best test of this.
Usually in Texas, if someone has used property for 10 yrs, they could gain title. This may be the argument here.
Thanks to each of you for response. I do think the "adverse possession" explanation is what we have been told so far. The puzzling thing to us is that there was no contact or attempt to contact our family regarding this situation when it went down.
I have found through research that this land has changed hands three times from 2005 to 2007 and the company that currently claims ownership has significant property in Dimmit County. THe land is basically desolate and would probably be considered as a "ranch", so I am unsure of how they could have been doing significant improvements or use on it?
I am having a difficult time getting the title company to contact me back and just want someone to look at our title, their title, and pertinent information to let us know what kind of case we have... I really don't want to get hung up in a lengthy and costly legal battle, especiallly since I'm dealing with a big money corportation and I am a 10 acre landowner. I have had one opinion that we don't have much we can do, but am having a hard time trusting just one voice on the matter...
Which again, I thank you all for your input...
I will update as I find more info and anyone else that has experience feel free to add your thoughts.
Thanks to each of you for response. I do think the "adverse possession" explanation is what we have been told so far. The puzzling thing to us is that there was no contact or attempt to contact our family regarding this situation when it went down.
I have found through research that this land has changed hands three times from 2005 to 2007 and the company that currently claims ownership has significant property in Dimmit County. THe land is basically desolate and would probably be considered as a "ranch", so I am unsure of how they could have been doing significant improvements or use on it?
I am having a difficult time getting the title company to contact me back and just want someone to look at our title, their title, and pertinent information to let us know what kind of case we have... I really don't want to get hung up in a lengthy and costly legal battle, especiallly since I'm dealing with a big money corportation and I am a 10 acre landowner. I have had one opinion that we don't have much we can do, but am having a hard time trusting just one voice on the matter...
Which again, I thank you all for your input...
I will update as I find more info and anyone else that has experience feel free to add your thoughts.
and they are still recognizing your mineral rights?
Dillon said:
Jeff Bullard said:
Thanks to each of you for response. I do think the "adverse possession" explanation is what we have been told so far. The puzzling thing to us is that there was no contact or attempt to contact our family regarding this situation when it went down.
I have found through research that this land has changed hands three times from 2005 to 2007 and the company that currently claims ownership has significant property in Dimmit County. THe land is basically desolate and would probably be considered as a "ranch", so I am unsure of how they could have been doing significant improvements or use on it?
I am having a difficult time getting the title company to contact me back and just want someone to look at our title, their title, and pertinent information to let us know what kind of case we have... I really don't want to get hung up in a lengthy and costly legal battle, especiallly since I'm dealing with a big money corportation and I am a 10 acre landowner. I have had one opinion that we don't have much we can do, but am having a hard time trusting just one voice on the matter...
Which again, I thank you all for your input...
I will update as I find more info and anyone else that has experience feel free to add your thoughts.
We were told through our first attorney after he reviewed our information that it was affecting our surface rights, but would not affect our mineral rights and that we were alright to deal with the latest contract proposal from an o & g company...
Adverse possession usually goes agst mineral rights in that situation
But the oil company has already paid you on the lease?
Jeff Bullard said:
We were told through our first attorney after he reviewed our information that it was affecting our surface rights, but would not affect our mineral rights and that we were alright to deal with the latest contract proposal from an o & g company...
contract is being signed this week and bonus payment should follow next week.
It might not be specifically categorized as adverse possession... this is why I have so many questions :)
I have contacted a more local attorney to review our info., hopefully soon. I am going based upon what attorney #1 had told us after his review of what had happened...
First, understand I'm not an attorney, so this is only my opinion -- but I have bought & sold quite a few tracts in Texas.
All states have adverse possession, but Texas is the most complex because we have 4 time periods -
These are statutes of limitation & in general -
3 yrs - must look like you have title
5 yrs - some indication of title & is the only one on which the person possessing must pay the taxes
10 yrs - simply be in possession - there is no requirement to have the property fenced or have paid the taxes, but they are often the best indications of AP
25 yrs - don't even argue about it
Now you hinted that you wondered why you weren't made aware of a problem - If the Tax Assessors receive taxes from 2 people it's my understanding they've been instructed by the state that they are not judges - dont become involved - 2 people paying - no problem, nobody paying - yeah, that's a problem.
Now I dont know much about your specific situation but it could be you have a 10 ac interest in about a 640 ac pool & if the 10 ac ownership is in question & your royalty is around 20%, they may agree to pay both parties a total of 40% (20% each) on the 10 ac., which I presume the RRC would not object to.
Anyway you might want to hurry up & sign the lease, but see what your attorney says.