 In
Idaho, especially North Idaho, there has always been some
confusion among Buyers over Mineral Rights, what properties
come with them, and come without them. Here is what I know,
and what I think is the reality of them.
In this State, Realtors use forms that are
made by the State of Idahos Realtor Association. The
one used for a sale of a home is an RE-21, Real Estate
Purchase and Sale Agreement. On page 2, item 6, it
specifically states that:
Mineral Rights: Any and all Mineral
Rights appurtenant to the property are included in and part
of the sale of this property unless otherwise agreed to
by the parties in writing.
Simple, all properties come with Mineral Rights,
right?
Not really.
Heres the rest of the story:
When you buy a property in Idaho, any property,
its not the Real Estate Commission or anyone else
who guarantees your purchase, the guarantor is the Title
Company you use, in the form of Preliminary Commitment for
Title Insurance. So, you buy 10 acres, and IF you use a
Title Company & buy Title Insurance (in this State the
Seller typically pays for it & all of my Buyers will
use a Title Co) than the Title company insures the validity
of the transaction, meaning that they guarantee that what
you are buying is what you think you are buying, and that
it is lien free, and that any rights will go
with it. Following me?
Good, now, the big surprise:
NO Title Company in Idaho will guarantee the mineral rights
on any property in this State, completely. Sounds terrible,
huh?
Heres where a little history is helpful,
I think.
In
Idaho, we have a few spots where Gold & Silver were
found in abundance, and over time, people claimed rights
to the properties Mineral Rights, and reserved them
unto themselves when they sold some of these properties.
An example, so you understand how this worked:
Bob bought 100 acres in 1904, sold it in 1911,
& reserved himself the rights to the minerals on the
property in perpetuity (forever).
Our gold rush & silver rush in North Idaho
were all located in & above the Silver Valley, east
of Coeurdalene. In those areas, large deposits of
both Gold (The Empire State building in New York, built
with gold from the Guggenheim Familys dredge in the
Silver Valley) and silver were found & have been mined
for a hundred years or so. Over that time frame, in many
of those areas, mineral rights have been reserved by people
on parcels of land that they owned.
Also, in Bonners Ferry, where Mr. Bonner became
famous with his Ferry, there are some properties that have
mineral rights reserved. The primary reason for this was
that folks who were going North to mine in British Columbias
gold fields came through Bonners Ferry, and some of them
literally thought that since gold was found just across
the border in BC, it MUST be here, too. So some of them
claimed minerals, but none of them found any
.
My conclusion-
Mineral Rights are not guaranteed on any property
in Idaho.
But
there are no oil or natural gas mines
here, and the Silver & Gold are well known in terms
of location, like I said before, the Silver Valley, &
Upper Coeurdalene River. Past that, there arent
any minerals TO mine for. Ive never seen or heard
of anyone having any issues over someone deciding that they
were going to exercise a mineral right.
For that matter, with the price of gold as
high as it is, companies that do mine for it have made a
serious habit out of buying property/s in the areas where
it has proven reserves. Every time Ive come across
a property that has a mineral right reserved, the company
or people that reserved it are either deceased or the company
is closed, and gone, most for 70 years or more.
On the Title Companies, the reason they dont
reserve rights is because in the past, especially early
in the last century, people would magically come out of
the woodwork with pieces of paper claiming a mineral right
on a piece of property, and the Title Companies had to fight
it. Now, they just dont guarantee the mineral rights,
but in reality it hasnt had any effect on any of the
thousands of people who own property here. If theres
no gold or silver, not too many people will want to mine
it.
I think mineral rights are a huge issue in
states where a lot of minerals are to be found, oil in the
Dakotas & Texas, gas in many other parts of the country,
for sure. Fortunately, and in some ways unfortunately, in
North Idaho, we have few minerals, and the ones we do have
are again, well known in terms of location and quantity,
making mineral rights here a pretty insignificant issue.
For any questions or for more information
please email info@revrealty.us
"How can we thank you for all the help, advice, guidance,
mentoring, etc. that you have provided both during our search
for property and every step of the way since? We fell head
over heels ......" Read
More
|