Section 36 Alberta Surface Rights

[ajl]

Anybody here been successful or know of someone who has been successful in collecting unpaid surface lease rentals under this section of the Surface Rights Act|? As an ag consultant, I have submitted a number of these on behalf of clients. There is a constant demand for more documentation. The worse one is they demand a copy of the original lease agreement. In many cases these have been assigned multiple times and the original lease signatory is somewhere in a graveyard. The application form asks for a number of different types of documentation and leads you to believe that you supply everything you can but the other stuff is optional but they keep asking for more info and when it is not available the application just sits on hold. They know very well that 99.9% of applications are legitimate unless they are the special kind of stupid that you find in all government offices.

[makar]

They wanted that on a rental review, I am not the original signor, my uncle is, he is 92 and had a stroke.

[burnt]

Anybody here been successful or know of someone who has been successful in collecting unpaid surface lease rentals under this section of the Surface Rights Act|? As an ag consultant, I have submitted a number of these on behalf of clients. There is a constant demand for more documentation. The worse one is they demand a copy of the original lease agreement. In many cases these have been assigned multiple times and the original lease signatory is somewhere in a graveyard. The application form asks for a number of different types of documentation and leads you to believe that you supply everything you can but the other stuff is optional but they keep asking for more info and when it is not available the application just sits on hold. They know very well that 99.9% of applications are legitimate unless they are the special kind of stupid that you find in all government offices.

Do you know the amount owed? They are tacitly acknowledging their agreement by asking for more verification? What would happen if you were to place a lien on their company for the outstanding balance, plus accruing daily penalties?

In my experience, once i had the dollar figure, the guy who owed me money came to milk PDQ once the lien was in place. Plus interest, plus legal costs.

He should just have paid up in the first place.

[ajl]

In Alberta, if an oil company does not pay the surface lease, technically the government is on the hook because legislation compels you to allow drilling on your land if they want. In these situations, the oil company went bankrupt 3 years ago and the surface rental payment has been missed for 4 years already. Now to collect, you get the run around from the Alberta Surface Rights Board which is a government agency.