Mineral Rights

[Texas-RE-Broker]

Originally Posted by loves2read

buying land does not automatically guarantee you buy mineral rights--most people now are not selling mineral rights when they sell land--

This is totally true, I just sold a town home in Euless and the Seller is keeping the mineral right. A Townhome.

[loves2read]

everybody is rushing through this stuff w/o doing due dillegence at times...and half the people checking records are only half-trained so good luck with what they do

it is certainly possible that mistakes will be made and people receive checks for leasing mineral rights they don't own--problem is that you have to pay it back if they come back and say--oh, sorry, we made a mistake and you don't really own the mineral rights we want to lease...

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by loves2read

everybody is rushing through this stuff w/o doing due dillegence at times...and half the people checking records are only half-trained so good luck with what they do

it is certainly possible that mistakes will be made and people receive checks for leasing mineral rights they don't own--problem is that you have to pay it back if they come back and say--oh, sorry, we made a mistake and you don't really own the mineral rights we want to lease...

Not necessarily true. If you have already spent the money and took it in good-faith (i.e. you genuinely believed that you owned the minerals) the company will have a very difficult time collecting the money and will probably just let it go. That doesn't mean they will not ask, but in most cases it just isn't worth it for them to pursue beyond a few harassing phone calls. It's also very different if you were mistakenly paid for 1/4 acre than if you were paid for 100+ acres. You're much more likely to end up in court over $500K than $7K.

Absolutely true about the people running title in the Barnett Shale, however. A very large slice of the landmen working in that area (and all the hot areas) at this time are recent college grads who were unemployed for a year trying to figure out what to do with themselves. Not necessarily the most driven folks and certainly not the most experienced. I would estimate that only about 1 landman in 20 has the slightest clue what he or she is doing. Title examining attorneys are the same way. Interestingly (to me, anyway), a lot of the landmen are also recent law graduates. Unless you graduate in the top 1/4 from UT Law or the top 1/10 from U of H or SMU or the top ten anywhere else, you aren't going to be able to get a high paying job with a prestigious firm. For most of these kids they can make more money as legal landmen than they can as an associate at a trash lawfirm.

[loves2read]

true
my husband has been landman for past 30+ years and there are things that he has to explain to attorneys
he has to explain them to his boss as well

it is very complicated, very tedious, and precise work depending on what aspect of "land" you are investigating
and you are right that it is easier to write off 7K vs 700K--but 100 mistakes could add up to 700K pretty quickly...

there are plenty of people who got into land work lately that are not young nor with law degrees...it is sort of last resort for people who can't find a job in their field since most people think you just need to be able to read and write to make a competent lease hound...
unfortunately my experience as an English teacher tells me that most people are not competent to read and write anything more sophisticated than the photo captions in Sports Illustrated or Playboy...

[cltx]

Does anyone know of a law office in Tarrants County who specialize in reviewing the mineral right contract? I was offered an up front fee and royalty fee if I signed the contract. I am not sure the company is legitimate or reputable; or if I should take the offer. Any recommendation is greatly appreciated.

[loves2read]

call the tarrant county bar assoc and ask for oil/gas specialty firm
Tarrant County Bar Association > Home

[minrights]

Background-I own the mineral rights on my 1 acre property. Signed a lease back in January, but have not received royalty checks yet. Have a manufactured home with a land/home package.
I got laid off awhile back, and may lose the house if I don't find something soon. Neighbors have tried to sell their houses with little success, so it probably would not sell either.
Question- Can I sell the mineral rights? If I do, what happens if I have to forclose on the house?
Thanks for any assistance.

[loves2read]

do you own the land outright?
you can get title to minerals if you are paying the mortgage and the mortgage company agrees to assign royalty rights to you--there is separate document for that I believe that the leasing company gets mortgage company to sign...
but if property goes into foreclosure and you DON"T OWN the land outright--then think you don't own the minerals either...
you can sign a lease and not get royalty payments for 18 mo or more depending on if there is pipeline in place to transport the gas, whenever they drill the well,, and if the well makes...

[allencas]

What if you buy a home and the owner keeps the mineral wrights when he dies do you get the wrights back

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by allencas

What if you buy a home and the owner keeps the mineral wrights when he dies do you get the wrights back

No. Mineral rights are heritable just like surface rights or other real property. The owner's heirs would get the mineral rights.