WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2024 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 5624

By Delegates Anderson, Zatezalo, Dillon, Heckert, and Barnhart

[Introduced February 12, 2024; Referred to the Committee on Energy and Manufacturing then the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §40-1-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing recorded notice to surface owners of potential mineral development surface uses which burden the surface estate.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 1. ACTS GENERALLY VOID AS TO CREDITORS AND PURCHASERS.

§40-1-8. Effect of recording certain contracts as to creditors and purchasers; memorandum of lease may be recorded.

(a) Any contract in writing made in respect to real estate or goods and chattels in consideration of marriage; or any contract in writing made for the conveyance or sale of real estate, or an interest or term therein of more than five years, or any other interest or term therein, of any duration, under which the whole or any part of the corpus of the estate may be taken, destroyed, or consumed, except for domestic use, shall, from the time it is duly admitted to record, be, as against creditors and purchasers, as valid as if the contract were a deed conveying the estate or interest embraced in the contract.

(b) In lieu of the recording of a lease pursuant to this section, there may be recorded with like effect a memorandum of such lease, executed by all persons who are parties to the lease and acknowledged in the manner to entitle a conveyance to be recorded. A memorandum of lease thus entitled to be recorded shall contain at least the following information with respect to the lease: The name of the lessor and the name of the lessee and the addresses of such parties as set forth in the lease; a reference to the lease, with its date of execution; a description of the leased premises in the form contained in the lease; the term of the lease, with the date of commencement and the date of termination of such term, and if there is a right of extension or renewal, the maximum period for which, or date to which, the lease may be extended, or the number of times or date to which it may be renewed and the date or dates on which such rights of extension or renewal are exercisable. Such memorandum shall constitute notice of only the information contained therein.

(c) In addition to the requirements of subsection (b), memoranda of leases which burden a completely severed mineral estate shall be executed by at least one owner of every overlying surface parcel; shall be acknowledged by the executing surface owners in a recordable manner; shall include a brief description of the overlying surface parcels and a brief description of potential surface uses and burdens related to development of the mineral estate under the lease; and when presented to the county recorder, shall be recorded in the public record under the name of the executing surface owners.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide recorded notice to surface owners of potential mineral development surface uses which burden the surface estate.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.