Homeowner Caution Needed When Leasing Mineral Rights Underneath Your Home

For anyone interested in the kind of problems homeowners can run into when leasing the mineral rights to their property to a natural gas drilling company, see:

• Gas deals' fine print can be costly (Fort Worth Star-Telegram; 8-25-07),
• Leases trigger $10 million mortgages (The Intelligencer - phillyBurbs.com; 7-2-07),
• New York Attorney General Looks Into Tactics Used To Obtain Gas Leases (NY AG Press Release - 10-6-04),
• Residual Liabilites at the End of the Oil and Gas Lease: Who's to Pay? (You can run, but you can't hide) (World Services Group - 6-15-07).

The lesson here is (again), when some unknown person comes knocking on your front door unsolicited, and they want to buy or sell you something (home repair contractors, foreclosure rescue operators, mineral lease "landmen" wanting to lease the mineral rights underneath your home, teenage kids selling magazines, etc.), and if they just happen to have the necessary legal documents in their briefcase for you to immediately sign, just say no.

Go here for other posts on dealing with exploration companies over your mineral rights. MineralRightsAlpha