Odd - so who owns it if I don't?
- Thread starter Hal
- Start date
Well, you need to look at your state laws or at where the rights got divested from your deeds. I'm a lawyer in NM, but I don't know anything about OH laws. You might run down to the bookstore or library and pick up the 4th ed. of Real Property in a Nutshell by West if you want a simple overview of real property law.
rampage841512
New member
Hell, you never know...you might be able to pick the mineral rights up on the cheap. I'm not positive about this, but I think a lot of times the state holds the mineral rights until someone stakes a claim.
Interesting article I once read and don't remember all the details or if it was accurate. If someone could verify I would appreciate it. It seems that in only the 13 original colonies did the states keep the mineral rights to any pubilically owned lands. When all other states were admitted to the Union (except texas) all meneral rights to any public lands were transferred to the Federal Gubmint. Therefore if the property you own in Ohio was public land when Ohio became a state then the mineral rights are owned by the Feds.
Since Texas was an independent nation when joining the Union concessions were made for the State of Texas to keep the mineral (oil) rights rather than giving them up.
Maybe this is what happened but who knows. I understand that in certain western states water rights are a big deal but having lived all my life in SC I can't say.
Since Texas was an independent nation when joining the Union concessions were made for the State of Texas to keep the mineral (oil) rights rather than giving them up.
Maybe this is what happened but who knows. I understand that in certain western states water rights are a big deal but having lived all my life in SC I can't say.
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TheBluesMan
Moderator Emeritus
If this is land in S. Ohio, it is quite likely that a mining company owns the mineral rights to your land. You probably never owned the mineral rights to begin with. They are often bought, sold and traded among companies in that part of the state.
On our family's land in Noble county, a company we had never heard of informed us that they would be drilling two natural gas wells on our property. They told us where they would be drilling and when. They cleared scores of trees and built driveways to the drilling areas which were each 1+ acre square.
When they were done, they "re-sculpted" the land and set some water/oil tanks nearby. They also cut a path to the nearest road and laid a transmission line. The land is quite different than it was before. We have a campsite that we can't get to anymore.
The only thing they consulted us on was where the driveway would be and where the tanks would be located (within reason). They were under no compulsion to do as we said. We had no legal right to stop them from doing anything. If they wanted to strip mine the land, they would have the right to do so.
These companies are smart though, they offered us royalties on any gas taken off the land or free gas for our cabin. We took the free gas.
Good to see you again, Hal.
-Dave
On our family's land in Noble county, a company we had never heard of informed us that they would be drilling two natural gas wells on our property. They told us where they would be drilling and when. They cleared scores of trees and built driveways to the drilling areas which were each 1+ acre square.
When they were done, they "re-sculpted" the land and set some water/oil tanks nearby. They also cut a path to the nearest road and laid a transmission line. The land is quite different than it was before. We have a campsite that we can't get to anymore.
The only thing they consulted us on was where the driveway would be and where the tanks would be located (within reason). They were under no compulsion to do as we said. We had no legal right to stop them from doing anything. If they wanted to strip mine the land, they would have the right to do so.
These companies are smart though, they offered us royalties on any gas taken off the land or free gas for our cabin. We took the free gas.
Good to see you again, Hal.
-Dave
Garand Illusion
New member
In the Denver area, it's actually an old train company that owns the mineral rights under about everybody's house.
Technically, any valuable minerals I find beneath my 1/3 acre belongs to them.
But after working at an oil company, I can tell you it doesn't really matter. If you find oil beneath your property, you might not be able to drill it yourself, but you'll still make money.
One of the oil companies will want to drill it, and they will pay you handsomely for access to it. Every month I sent out checks to landowners for access AND the company that held the mineral rights. So we had to pay the person who owned the land as well as the people who owned the mineral rights to get it out.
The ranchers with oil wells on their property have a painless means of making a little money every month -- generally not much, because a single well or two doesn't pump that much, but better than nothing.
Technically, any valuable minerals I find beneath my 1/3 acre belongs to them.
But after working at an oil company, I can tell you it doesn't really matter. If you find oil beneath your property, you might not be able to drill it yourself, but you'll still make money.
One of the oil companies will want to drill it, and they will pay you handsomely for access to it. Every month I sent out checks to landowners for access AND the company that held the mineral rights. So we had to pay the person who owned the land as well as the people who owned the mineral rights to get it out.
The ranchers with oil wells on their property have a painless means of making a little money every month -- generally not much, because a single well or two doesn't pump that much, but better than nothing.
great-grandpa's land
Long before I was born, my great-grandfather sold a piece of land in East Texas--and HE retained a percentage of the mineral rights. 60 or 70 years later, whoever owned it found oil on it and had to pay GGD's descendants a share of the profits.
Well, GGD had 33 children. Yes--33. He outlived 3 wives and had just married a 4th when he died in his 90s. I've got cousins I've never even heard of.
It took the company more than 6 years to track everybody down, and by that time the back royalties had built up to a nice chunk of change; my share was some 0.0000000part of a percent, but my first check was for three or four hundred dollars. After that I got maybe $50-60 a year from them for a long time. Haven't seen a dime for years now--I think the company went broke.
What I want to know has nothing to do with the oil; I want to know what they were feeding that old goat to keep him making babies into his 80s. Give me some of THAT...
Long before I was born, my great-grandfather sold a piece of land in East Texas--and HE retained a percentage of the mineral rights. 60 or 70 years later, whoever owned it found oil on it and had to pay GGD's descendants a share of the profits.
Well, GGD had 33 children. Yes--33. He outlived 3 wives and had just married a 4th when he died in his 90s. I've got cousins I've never even heard of.
It took the company more than 6 years to track everybody down, and by that time the back royalties had built up to a nice chunk of change; my share was some 0.0000000part of a percent, but my first check was for three or four hundred dollars. After that I got maybe $50-60 a year from them for a long time. Haven't seen a dime for years now--I think the company went broke.
What I want to know has nothing to do with the oil; I want to know what they were feeding that old goat to keep him making babies into his 80s. Give me some of THAT...
I don't know how it is anywhere else but here in Ms. you can retain the mineral or timber rights when you sell a piece of property provided you had the rights to begin with. Always read the fine print when buying property. They don't have to tell you they're retaining the rights but it does have to be in the paperwork.
When I bought my 80 acres in central Ohio back in the mid 60's, the owner wanted to keep the mineral rights. I knew he needed the money for a new business deal so I told him it was no deal without the mineral rights. I got them. I know of properties that have been sold many times over without the mineral rights.
tony pasley
New member
The state actually owns your land they let you have title as long as you pay them rent (taxes). You fail to pay the state and watch them kick you off the land and sell it to some one who will pay them the rent (taxes) they require.