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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Be using the surface for a residence, a store, or an office; and an owner of the subsurface mineral rights with a financial interest in making money from mining or drilling for oil, gas, and minerals, which has a great potential for disturbing the surface owner’s enjoyment of the land. Not only that, but, if a conflict arises, Florida courts have held that the rights of the mineral owner are dominant and superior to the rights of the surface owner.A. MINERAL RIGHTS AND NON-MINING LANDS.Therefore, for the owner of non-mining lands, because of this conflict, mineral rights can create a serious title defect if the owner of the mineral rights has the legal right to enter upon the property and explore, drill, and mine for oil, gas, and minerals (the “right of entry”), even if the land’s zoning does not allow for drilling and mining activities. The reason is that title insurance companies will not rely upon zoning that prohibits drilling and mining activities because that zoning can always be changed by the governmental zoning authorities.Why are mineral rights that are accompanied by a right of entry considered a title defect for non-mining lands? As mentioned above, ownership of mineral rights is superior to the ownership of the land (the “surface rights”), especially if the oil, gas, and mineral rights owner (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “mineral rights owner”) has the right of entry. However, if the mineral rights owner does not have the right of entry, the land-owning surface rights owner can prevent the mineral rights owner from entering onto the property. Otherwise, the surface rights owner (the landowner) has no legal right (and no title insurance) to stop the mineral rights owner from entering onto the surface rights owner’s land; exploring and testing for oil, gas, and
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