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Hi all, I am new here and this is my first post. Hopefully I won't do or say anything wrong. Here goes: I bought a farm of 30+ acres up on a bluff in Nov 05. By Jan of 06 I discovered my mineral right were owned by a company in W.VA. On the closing papers, it clearly states that I bought the mineral rights with the property and the previous owner who had the property for over 40+ years also owned them. I would not have bought the property without the mineral rights. In my discovery, I found that approximately 58 other property had their mineral rights bought from them at the same time and I would be willing to bet most of them don't even know it. I learned and spoke to a man in KY who made all the arrangements and handling of the mineral rights to this company in W.VA. He said it was the cleanest deed he had ever seen and was 99 years old and he does this for companies for a living, i.e., finding minerals for corporations to buy. I am angry and thoroughly disguested that they got away with this. Apparently all that was needed to be done was post the plan to purchase in a public newspaper (it was done in the next county), that landowners don't not need to be notified. My mortgage company of course has left it to me to get an attorney to fight it (I am jobless and can't afford it). The title company only goes back 20-30 years and I have title insurance. I would love to have feedback on info about this, what I might try and do to get my mineral rights back and if I can't, how is it justifiable for me to keep trying to pay this mortgage. I am looking for an attorney in the Chattanooga or near by area if they can help or if anyone knows some attorney that can help me or any other help in this matter.
Hi all, I am new here and this is my first post. Hopefully I won't do or say anything wrong. Here goes: I bought a farm of 30+ acres up on a bluff in Nov 05. By Jan of 06 I discovered my mineral right were owned by a company in W.VA. On the closing papers, it clearly states that I bought the mineral rights with the property and the previous owner who had the property for over 40+ years also owned them. I would not have bought the property without the mineral rights. In my discovery, I found that approximately 58 other property had their mineral rights bought from them at the same time and I would be willing to bet most of them don't even know it. I learned and spoke to a man in KY who made all the arrangements and handling of the mineral rights to this company in W.VA. He said it was the cleanest deed he had ever seen and was 99 years old and he does this for companies for a living, i.e., finding minerals for corporations to buy. I am angry and thoroughly disguested that they got away with this. Apparently all that was needed to be done was post the plan to purchase in a public newspaper (it was done in the next county), that landowners don't not need to be notified. My mortgage company of course has left it to me to get an attorney to fight it (I am jobless and can't afford it). The title company only goes back 20-30 years and I have title insurance. I would love to have feedback on info about this, what I might try and do to get my mineral rights back and if I can't, how is it justifiable for me to keep trying to pay this mortgage. I am looking for an attorney in the Chattanooga or near by area if they can help or if anyone knows some attorney that can help me or any other help in this matter.
If you have Title insurance, you already have an attorney, call them and put in a claim. They should be fighting this for you. If the title/deed at the time of purchase shows you own the mineral rights, no-one can sell them but you.
Have you gone to your court house and asked for a new copy of your deed? Does it really say that this company bought your mineral rights? Be careful of scams.
I am curious as to how you found out this company own your mineral rights?
I think the same thing. The title company, is saying you have a clean title to this property, even if they only go back 30 or 40 years. If this company is saying they own the rights, I agree with MB up above, go to the courthouse and see what your deed says.
Good luck,
Pam
You may be able to find more information by visiting your county property assessors office. If the mineral rights were severed "99 years" ago the lack of inclusion in the deed description by some previous transfer doesn't invalidate a prior claim.
I found some information on the "Tennessee Land Buyers Guide" that is relevant to this issue. Tennessee Land Buyer's Guide
Qouting from the web-site:
"Mineral Rights
Mineral rights may be owned by someone other than the owner of the surface. Mineral rights may be sold or retained separately from the surface rights, in which case the mineral rights are said to be "severed." Third parties may have leases with the mineral owner to develop and produce minerals. A person may own all of the mineral rights for a parcel or any fraction of the rights. A person may also own rights to only one kind of mineral, such as oil and gas, or to only one formation or depth. The definition of "mineral" is not completely clear in Tennessee law, but generally includes any oil, gas, coal, and other minerals that may be located below the surface. All of these resources are exist in Tennessee and are potentially an issue in East Tennessee land ownership. A county property assessor for Hamilton County recently estimated that as much as half of the property owners in Tennessee do not own mineral rights for their property, including many residential developers. Recently, the mining of sandstone, fieldstone and flagstone for landscaping has become an issue in Southeast Tennessee due to the unclear distinction between rock and minerals as applied to exercise of mineral rights.
It should not be difficult to establish whether mineral rights have been severed on a particular property. According to Tennessee Code,
"All mineral owners shall be required to identify their mineral interests with the property assessor in the county in which the interest is located. The mineral owner shall provide a deed reference number for the mineral interest and shall specify where that mineral estate lies, citing tax maps and parcel numbers for the owner or owners of surface above the mineral estate." (67-5-904)
However, there may be cases when the mineral interest has not been properly recorded. Do not assume that mineral rights are regulated the same in Tennessee as in your state, and consult an attorney versed in Tennessee property law if the matter is unclear on the property you are considering purchasing. Severed mineral rights are not necessarily a reason to reject a property for consideration, but you should understand fully the potential consequences."
I didn't realize until now that mineral rights could be severed from the surface ownership in Tennessee- it's a very contentious issue in neighboring Virginia.
First off, many apologies for the long cut and paste but this is the annotated code that covers the mineral rights question you are looking for an answer to below.
If these mineral rights are not properly registered with the local tax assessor and they are paying property taxes on these mineral rights or they have not exercised them for the specified period of time; these mineral right may not be valid. Your attorney will help you evaluate that.
Another means of discouraging mineral extraction is to nickle and dime the company extracting the minerals to death with EPA, TDEC, and other regualtions concerning the environment and endangered species.
Hope this helps.
[SIZE=3]66-5-108. Preservation, or extinguishment and reversion of mineral interests. —[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](a) (1) The general assembly finds that many owners of agricultural property who have separated titles have difficulty acquiring loans and in other ways have been hindered in fully developing the surface of land.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (2) The general assembly further finds that there are mineral estates, separated from the surface, that have not been properly registered in the counties in which they are located, and are, therefore, not on the tax rolls, causing a significant loss of revenue to many Tennessee counties.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (3) Further, the general assembly finds that many surface owners cannot discover from records at their courthouses whether they own the underlying mineral estate, or if they do not, who does, and that this situation causes undue hardship and title uncertainty for surface owners.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (4) The general assembly further finds that where there are abandoned mineral estates, those on which no development has taken place, no taxes paid and no claim filed pursuant to this section, the rational development of minerals in Tennessee is hindered.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (5) Thus, to promote commerce and agriculture and proper development of surface and mineral estates and to remedy uncertainties in title, the general assembly adopts this section.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](b) For the purposes of this section and §§ 67-5-804(b), 67-5-809 and 67-5-2502(d):[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (1) “Mineral interest” means the interest which is created by an instrument, transferring either by grant, assignment, or reservation, or otherwise, an interest, of any kind, in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals;[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (2) “Statement of claim” means a document or instrument to be filed by the owner of a mineral interest in real property to make claim to that mineral interest; and[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (3) “Use of mineral interest” means that a mineral interest shall be deemed to be used when there are any minerals being produced thereunder or when operations are being conducted thereon for injection, withdrawal, storage or disposal of water, gas or other fluid substances, or when rentals or royalties are being paid to the owner thereof for the purposes of delaying or enjoying the use or exercise of such rights, or when any such use is being carried out on any tract with which such mineral interest may be unitized or pooled for production purposes, or when taxes are paid on such mineral interest by the owner of the land.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](c) Any interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals shall, if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, be extinguished, unless a statement of claim is filed in accordance with subsection (d), and the ownership of the mineral interest shall revert to the owner of the surface.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](d) (1) The statement of claim provided in subsection (c) shall be filed by the owner of the mineral interest prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in subsection (c) or within three (3) years after July 1, 1987, whichever is later.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (2) The statement of claim shall contain the name and address of the owner or owners of such mineral interest. The claim shall cite tax maps and parcel numbers for the owner or owners of surface above the mineral estate, and a reference to the instrument under which the interest is claimed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (3) The statement of claim shall be filed with the office of the register of deeds in the county in which such land is located.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (4) Upon filing of the statement of claim within the time provided, it shall be prima facie evidence in any legal proceedings that such mineral interest was being used on the date the statement of claim was filed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](e) (1) Any person who will succeed to the ownership of any mineral interest upon the lapse thereof may commence such lapse by filing, with the clerk and master of the county in which the mineral interest is located, a complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest which may be in the following or a similar form:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (5) All notices provided for in this section shall state the name of the owner of the mineral interest, if known, as shown of record, a description of the land and the name of the person filing the complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (6) In any county having a population of not less than thirty-two thousand six hundred (32,600) nor more than thirty-two thousand seven hundred (32,700) according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, upon the filing of the statement of claim provided in subsection (d) or the order provided in subdivision (e)(4) in the register of deeds office for the county where such interest is located, the register shall record the same in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be known as the “Dormant Mineral Interest Record,” and shall indicate by marginal notation on the instrument creating the original mineral interest and the instrument creating the interest of the current surface owner, the filing of the statement of claim or order.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (7) In order for the judicially determined lapse to be effective as to the subsequent interest holders, a certified copy of the final order evidencing the same must be recorded in the register of deeds office in the county where the property is located.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (8) The clerk and master shall charge a fee of thirty dollars ($30.00) for the filing of the complaint of claim of abandoned mineral interest and the order provided for in this section and shall collect the fees necessary for the publication required in this section.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (9) No complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interest shall be accepted for filing prior to July 1, 1990.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](f) (1) Upon the filing of the statement of claim as provided in subsection (c), the register shall record the same in a book to be kept for that purpose which shall be known as the “Dormant Mineral Interest Record” and shall enter in the index where the instrument creating the original mineral interest is indexed a notation referencing the statement of claim. Upon the filing of the order as provided in subdivision (e)(4), the register shall record the order in the Dormant Mineral Interest Record and shall enter the filing of the order in the indexes referencing the instrument creating the original mineral interest and the instrument creating the interest of the current surface owner.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (2) In any county having a population of not less than thirty-two thousand six hundred (32,600) nor more than thirty-two thousand seven hundred (32,700) according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, upon the filing of the statement of claim as provided in subsection (c) or the proof of service of notice as provided in subsection (e) in the register of deeds office for the county where such interest is located, the register shall record the same in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be known as the “Dormant Mineral Interest Record,” and shall indicate by marginal notation on the instrument creating the original mineral interest the filing of the statement of claim or affidavit of publication and service of notice.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](g) The provisions of Acts 1987, chapter 282, may not be waived at any time prior to the expiration of the twenty-year period provided in subsection (c).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](h) This section applies in all ways to property owned by the state of Tennessee.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](i) The provisions of this section may not be waived at any time prior to the expiration of the twenty-year period provided in subsection (c).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](j) No action shall be brought by any person to contest the lapse of a mineral interest pursuant to this section after three (3) years from the date such interest lapsed.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](k) (1) Any person who prevails in an action to quiet title to challenge a statement of claim or a complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interests filed pursuant to this section may be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs if the court finds that the statement of claim or the complaint was not filed in good faith. A court may find that a statement of claim or the complaint was not filed in good faith if such was filed without reasonable inquiry, with no factual basis, and for purposes of harassment.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] (2) If the court finds no record of taxes paid or statement of claim filed for the lapsed mineral interests which references the mineral estate by tax map and parcel number, then a complaint for claim of abandoned mineral interest shall be deemed to have been filed in good faith.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3](l) The only parties of interest pursuant to this section shall be an owner of the mineral interest and a person who shall succeed to the ownership of the mineral interest upon its lapse. Any third person claiming title or interest in any matter pursuant to this section shall prove by verified complaint, affidavit or other evidence that the third person's rights are or will be violated and that such third person will suffer injury, loss or damage if not allowed to become a party thereto.[/SIZE]
Tennessee passed a law in the mid to late 80s or low 90s that anyone who has mineral interests then they are to state a claim in the Mineral Claim Book at the court house, you have to ask were this book is. The claim was to identify the location of the minerals and the then current surface parcel(s). If they didn't do this and they are not paying taxes or producing the mineral then the minerals are yours. Post an ad in the local paper so many times and then record a claim. The court house should be able to help you out or you can google TN Mineral Laws. Good luck.
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