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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.00 Mineral InterestsI Brownstein Hyatt I Farber Schreck Memorandum DATE: January 21, 2015 TO: Charles J. Smith FROM: Ginny Hersch RE: Review of Mineral Ownership For Carbondale Investments, LLC's Parcel A (South Parcel), Parcel B (North Parcel) and Parcel C (0.234 Acre Parcel East of Parcel B) This memorandum outlines the steps that I took to research the mineral ownership for the property in Garfield County owned by Carbondale Investments, LLC described as Parcel A (South Parcel), Parcel B (North Parcel) and Parcel C (0.234 Acre Parcel East of Parcel B), collectively the "Property." First I reviewed the commitment for title insurance (the "Commitment") prepared by Stewart Title Guaranty Company as File No. 941686 dated effective December 18, 2014. The Commitment lists reservations in 5 patents covering portion of the Property. The reservation in each patent is for rights of the proprietor of a vein or lode to extract and remove his ore therefrom. The patents were recorded in the office of the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder on: 1. November 17, 1983 in Book 12 Page 255 No. 16539 (Florence Gardner). 2. June 24, 1893 in Book 12 Page 235 Reception No. 16010 (John Gregory). 3. December 4, 1894 in Book 12 Page 339 Reception No. 11720 (Joseph McLarning). 4. January 15, 1896 in Book 12 Page 394 Reception No. 19002 (Charles W. Darrow). 5. January 24, 1906 in Book 56 Page 534 Reception No. 31514 (Hyrcanus Stanton). These patents do not reserve minerals, only easements for ditches and the right to follow veins of minerals. next searched the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder's records starting from the patents and going forward in the Grantee/Grantor index looking for any deed which would sever the mineral estate from the surface. I found 3 cases where the mineral were severed. The severances are: 1. A life estate in and to one half of all the net royalty payments was reserved by Gisella Fiou in deed recorded September 28, 1965 in Book 370 at Page 69 Reception No. 231765. I found obituaries for two of her sons in the local newspaper that stated that Gisella Fiou Myers had predeceased the sons. Because Gisella Fiou is now deceased, the life estate returns to the surface estate. 013738\0001\11845078.1 2. T. M. Sanders by Quitclaim deed from Neil S. Mincer and Erven T. Larson recorded December 17, 1964 in Book 362 Page 445 Reception No. 228037. The reserved interest was not conveyed further by T. M. Sanders. T. M. Sanders a/k/a Thomas M. Sanders a/k/a Thomas Milbern Sanders passed away March 7, 1970 in Orange County, California. His will was recorded in the records of Garfield County on November 19, 1971 in Book 425 Page 1 Reception No. 251765. The will states that his wife is named Pearl M. Sanders, and that he leaves two children David R. Sanders and Marva Sanders Brown. Lucile M. Johnson was appointed as trustee. There are no deeds either to any of the above parties or out from any of them which means that the reservation was not conveyed further. 3. An undivided one -fiftieth of all oil and gas was reserved by Ella J. Chase in Warranty Deed, recorded June 12, 1951 Book 258 Page 594 Reception No. 176326, by Ella J. Chase. Ella J. Chase did not deed the reserved interest out to anyone. Ella J. Chase passed away in Iowa on April 10, 1964 and her will was recorded in Garfield County on February 24, 1965 in Book 364 Page 143 Reception No. 228828. She left any real property to her niece Gladys Zook Smith. There are no deeds into or out from Gladys Zook Smith which refer to the reserved mineral interest. I could not find Gladys Zook Smith through an internet search, Clerk and Recorder search, Assessor's record search or a search of the Glenwood Springs phone listings. The Commitment does not indicate that there are any deeds for mineral interests or reservations other than those mentioned above and it does not indicate that any mineral estate owner has filed a request for notification. I next searched the Garfield County Assessor's records. The Garfield County Assessor does not currently track severed minerals unless the mineral owner is able to prove ownership by presenting deeds, title commitments or other evidence to the Assessor. According to Samantha Pickard, the Minerals Clerk for the Garfield County Assessor, there are only 73 severed mineral accounts currently on the tax roll in Garfield County Samantha checked the 73 active mineral accounts and the inactive mineral account records which would reflect any accounts that had been tracked by the Assessor in the past. There are no active or inactive mineral accounts for the property included in the legal description of the Carbondale Investments, LLC property. The vesting deed for the Property is a Correction Deed recorded June 22, 2011 under Reception No. 804201. The Correction Deed contains a reservation by Carbondale Investments LLC, a Texas limited liability company. Article 1 — Reservations, Section 1.2, contains a Reservation of Oil, Gas and Mineral Rights to Carbondale Investments, LLC which "specifically reserves the all right, title, and interest in and to all minerals and mineral rights, and shall retain the right to develop and remove all minerals and mineral rights on, in or that may be produced from the Property." The address for Carbondale Investments, LLC listed in the deed is 5121 Park Lane, Dallas, TX 75220. The Assessor's records indicate the address as: P. O. Box 17330, Little Rock, Arkansas 72222. 2 013738\0001\11845078.1