Broome County Lawmakers To Address Mineral Rights Issue In Tax Foreclosures; Delinquent Homeowners Losing Natural Gas Rights When Curing Arrearages

In Broome County, New York, the Binghampton Press & Sun Bulletin reports:

• [Daniel D. Reynolds, the new chairman of the Broome County legislature] said he'll appoint a committee representing both parties in the next few days to look at Broome's practice of holding onto mineral rights to properties it obtains in tax foreclosure. The issue has been simmering for months, after three people retrieved titles to their properties after tax foreclosure proceedings but learned the county had taken away their rights to natural gas on their land.(1)

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• The issue is important because oil and gas companies are paying large sums to obtain leases to mineral rights to properties on the Marcellus Shale formation, one of the largest deposits of natural gas in the United States.

For more, see Legislature chief targets mineral rights.

In a related post, see Upstate NY County Looks To Wrestle Away Mineral Rights From Tax-Delinquent Property Owner Who Has Since Paid Arrearage.

Go here for other posts on those looking to strip property owners of their mineral rights.

(1) According to the story, committee members will be appointed before the Jan. 27 meeting of the legislature, Reynolds said. The committee is expected to resolve the issue involving the three property owners before creating a new policy regarding who owns mineral rights after tax foreclosures. MineralRightsAlpha