Expert: Dick Dennis - 3/30/2010

Question
I am in the military and I am transferring soon, so I decided to review my title and contracts from public records before listing my house. I found a that the previous owners entered into a 3 year lease with a natural gas company and received a signing bonus while we were under contract, 20 days before we closed to be exact. They originally wanted to retain the mineral rights, but I had them strike that from the contract. Were they supposed to disclose this information to me and will an active lease decrease my property value? Thanks.

Answer
While they still owned the property, Aaron, the previous owners may do what they want with it as long as it didn't impede your transaction in any way, especially if there was no mention about any mineral rights in the transaction. However, this may be a case for a real estate attorney who has experience with mineral rights. Another reason to see this specialized attorney is because it may indeed have some effect on the property value if you expect to sell your property. Also ask to see if any part of that payment to them should have gone over to you. Not knowing the amount of the payment to them, however, this may be a case to be handled in small-claims court. Therefore your consultation with the attorney may not lead to a more serious court case. I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com