North Dakota Code 47-16-36 – Duty of lessee to have terminated or forfeited lease released – Publication notice – Satisfaction of lease to be recorded – Notice to real property owner – Remedies
When any oil, gas, or other mineral lease given on real property situated in any county of North Dakota and recorded therein terminates or is forfeited it is the duty of the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, within fifteen days after the date of the termination or forfeiture of any lease, to have the lease surrendered in writing, the surrender to be signed by the party making the same, acknowledged, and placed on record in the county where the leased real property is situated without cost to the owner thereof. If the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, fails or neglects to execute and record the surrender within the time provided for, then the owner of the real property may serve upon the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns of record, in person or by registered or certified mail, at the lessee’s last-known address, or if the post-office address is not shown of record then by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the real property is situated, a notice in writing in substantially the following form:
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 47-16-36
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute means the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- week: means seven consecutive days and the word "month" a calendar month. See North Dakota Code 1-01-33
To : I, the undersigned, owner of the following described land situated in County, North Dakota: (description of land) upon which a lease dated , , was given to notify you that the lease has terminated or become forfeited by breach of the terms thereof, that I elect to declare and do declare the lease forfeited and void and that, unless you do, within twenty days from this date, notify the recorder of the county as provided by law that the lease has not been forfeited, I will file with the recorder a satisfaction of lease as provided by law, and I demand that you execute or have executed a proper surrender of the lease and that you put the same of record in the office of the recorder of the county within twenty days from this date.
Dated , .
The owner of the real property may after twenty days from the date of service, registration, or first publication of the notice, file with the recorder of the county where the real property is situated a satisfaction of lease setting forth that the affiant is the owner of the real property, that the lease has terminated or that the lessee, or the lessee’s successors or assigns, has failed or neglected to comply with the terms of the lease, reciting the facts constituting the failure and that the same has been forfeited and is void, and setting out in satisfaction of lease a copy of the notice served, as above provided and the manner and time of the service thereof. If the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, gives notice in writing within twenty days after service to the recorder of the county where the real property is located that the lease has not been forfeited and that the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, still claim that the lease is in full force and effect, then the satisfaction of lease may not be recorded but the recorders shall notify the owner of the real property of the action of the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, and the owner of the real property is entitled to the remedies now provided by law for the cancellation of the disputed lease. If the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, fails to notify the recorder, as above provided, then the recorder shall record the satisfaction of lease and thereafter the record of the lease is not notice to the public of the existence of the lease or of any interest therein, or rights thereunder, and the record may not be received in evidence in any court of the state on behalf of the lessee, the lessee’s successors or assigns, against the lessor, the lessor’s successors or assigns.