By Paul R. Yagelski, Esquire
Rothman Gordon
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I previously wrote two articles on Pennsylvania’s Recording of Surrender Documents from Oil and Natural Gas Lease Act. The Act allows a lessor to serve a notice of termination, expiration or cancellation of an oil and gas lease on a lessee if the lessee fails to timely provide a surrender document in recordable form, not more than 30 days after the termination, expiration or cancellation of the lessor’s oil and natural gas lease (“lease”). The first article is “Do Not Use Recording of Surrender Documents from Oil and Natural Gas Lease Act.” The second article is “Additional Problems with Pennsylvania’s Recording of Surrender Documents from Oil and Natural Gas Lease Act.”
The first article dealt with a problem with the notice that is to be given by the lessor to the lessee of the termination, expiration or cancellation of the lease if the lessee does not timely provide a surrender document in recordable form to the lessor, not more than 30 days after the termination, expiration or cancellation of the lease. The problem with the notice is that it must state that the lease will be terminated, will expire or will be cancelled according to its terms, including the date of termination, expiration or cancellation, i.e., some future date. Why send a notice stating that the lease will be terminated, will expire or will be cancelled, according to its terms when the lease has already terminated, expired or been cancelled, according to its terms?
The second article dealt with two additional problems with the Act. One is the date that the lessor sets in the notice for termination, expiration or cancellation of the lease. The other is the service of the notice itself.
In addition to the problems addressed in these articles, there is one other problem with the Act. Specifically, the Act does not indicate that the affidavit of termination, expiration or cancellation, which the Act allows the lessor to file when the lessee does not challenge the lessor’s notice, is conclusive as to the termination, expiration or cancellation of the lease.