Beware the Fine Print
By David Duran (March 2005)

The next time your eyes lock on to the sight of a check you receive in the mail, make sure and read the fine print. There have been a rash of mineral rights scams circulating around in the past few years.  Scammers target landowners with mineral interests, or people who receive royalties on mineral interests.  The scammers can find lists of these holdings at any county clerk’s office and use that as a starting point to mail out a wave of letters, hoping to fool at least some of their targets.  The letter received from the scammer may have confusing wording, misleading the target to thinking they’re signing a lease, or something other than the intent to take ownership of the mineral interest. If the target then cashes an accompanied check, they lose their rights to the property.

The good news is that lawmakers passed a bill in 1999 that offers protection for victims of these scams. Senate Bill 436, authored by Nixon, requires anyone who wants to buy mineral interests to clearly convey their intent to buy. The notification must be in 14 point font and has to closely follow the form of a statement included in the bill that clearly states the intention to purchase the mineral interest. If these guidelines are not followed, and the scammer successfully swindles a person into giving up their property, the victim can sue the scammer for the larger of $100, or the difference in market value between the property and the money received. Moreover, the winning party in the lawsuit can recover the court costs and lawyer fees, so even a suit for a relatively small sum could be worthwhile given a clear violation of the law by the scammer. This only applies, however, to transactions that have occurred within the last two years of the date the suit is filed.

Some scammers might try to search for people who have unclaimed property sitting in the state unclaimed property accounts. Excluding unclaimed safe deposit boxes, unclaimed property is kept in the Comptroller’s accounts forever. A list of everyone with such property is published in virtually every city newspaper across the state every October. The quickest way to get an updated look at unclaimed property lists is to check the Comptroller’s website (see sidebar). There you can perform a search by name and city of any previous addresses where you might have lived. Upon finding a match, you can call the unclaimed property office with the reference number to get the paperwork started.

Thankfully, SB436 has provided a strong protection against these scams. It only helps, however, if the victim is aware that there is legal recourse against these scammers, and takes action against them. It’s also inevitable that someone will cook up another way to take people’s rightful belongings. It just takes a patient eye and inquisitive mind to carefully look at any strange mail you might get.

David Duran graduated from Westlake High School, and attended Texas Tech University for his first two years of college. David then transferred to the University of Texas where he graduated with a B.A. in August of 2004 in philosophy and a minor in Japanese. David worked at the state capitol for about six months as a House Sergeant before going to work for Donaldson-Fisher as a legislative assistant in December.

Documents needed to regain unclaimed property for original owners:  

Comptroller’s unclaimed property office: 1-800-654-3463

Comptroller’s Website: www.window.state.tx.us/up/