Summary
The Seventh District Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed a Belmont County Common Pleas Court judgment quieting title to 100% of the oil and gas rights underlying the plaintiffs’ property. The court held that references to oil and gas royalties in the chain of title were general and ambiguous under the Marketable Title Act and did not preserve the appellants’ claimed mineral interests. It also addressed the Dormant Mineral Act and declaratory-judgment claims.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Marketable Title Act extinguished appellants' claimed severed oil and gas interests.
- Whether the references to oil and gas in the 1951 Dale Deed and 1976 Whaley Deed were specific references sufficient to preserve the interests under the Marketable Title Act and Blackstone v. Moore.
- Whether the Dormant Mineral Act issues required decision after the court concluded that the Marketable Title Act extinguished appellants' interests.
- What standard governs appellate review of the trial court's summary-judgment ruling.
Holdings
- The Marketable Title Act extinguished all of appellants' claimed oil and gas interests because appellees established a qualifying root of title and the record did not contain a sufficient specific reference preserving the interests.
- The references in the 1951 Dale Deed and 1976 Whaley Deed were general and ambiguous, not specific references to the severed oil and gas interests, and therefore did not preserve those interests under the Marketable Title Act.
- The Dormant Mineral Act issues were moot because the Marketable Title Act independently extinguished all of appellants' claimed interests.
- An appellate court reviews summary judgment de novo and applies the same test as the trial court.
Key quotations
“A marketable record title “operates to extinguish” all interests existing prior to the root of title.” (¶ 45)
“the mere fact that the reference is susceptible to more than one interpretation is further evidence that the reference is general not specific.” (¶ 52)
“Based on the foregoing, we agree with the trial court that the MTA extinguished all of the oil and gas interests claimed by appellants.” (¶ 54)
Factual background
Anna Carpenter conveyed the property and severed oil and gas interests in 1944 through deeds involving her children Charles R. Grimm and Bessie Cook. Later deeds, including the 1951 Dale Deed and 1976 Whaley Deed, contained language excepting or reserving coal, oil and gas royalties, and mining rights. John and Jennifer Chartier acquired the property in 2002, published a notice of abandonment in 2012, and later leased the oil and gas rights to Rice; heirs and potential heirs of the earlier interest holders asserted competing claims to the minerals.
Procedural history
Appellees filed an action to quiet title to severed oil and gas interests and asserted claims under the Dormant Mineral Act and Marketable Title Act. The trial court granted appellees summary judgment on the DMA, declaratory-judgment, and MTA claims, quieted title to all of the oil and gas rights in appellees, and denied the remaining summary-judgment requests. The Seventh District affirmed, holding that the MTA extinguished appellants' claimed interests and therefore rendering the DMA issues moot.