{"id":7116,"date":"2026-01-02T01:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T06:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=7116"},"modified":"2026-01-02T01:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T06:36:06","slug":"what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"What Pennsylvania Courts Say About Deed Holders\u2019 Underground Gas Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1424\" height=\"517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights.webp 1424w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights-300x109.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights-1024x372.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/what-pennsylvania-courts-say-about-deed-holders-underground-gas-rights-768x279.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1424px) 100vw, 1424px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Shale gas under Pennsylvania farm land is very valuable. Those who might have rights to such land are often challenging each other for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/will-you-own-the-mineral-water-and-air-rights-to-your-new-home\/\">oil rights<\/a>. In this article, we point out the importance of deed language in deciding these disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Whose Shale Is This?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider the story of a deed holder in rural Pennsylvania. Meet John Comerford, the most recent deed holder of land that\u2019s been passed down through the family for a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Comerford leased access rights to an oil and gas drilling company. This allowed the Comerford family to receive monthly royalties. But one day the drilling company sent notice that a competing claim turned up for the oil and gas rights. The payments stopped. Instead of going to the Comerfords, the funds went into an escrow account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The competing claim comes from heirs to a long-ago deed holder. Those heirs say that when the deed was transferred to the Comerford family a century back, the oil and gas rights were kept by <em>their<\/em> family as part of the mineral rights that the deed never conveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case went to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Give Us Our Royalties Back!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The court declared that the Comerfords\u2019 royalties should resume. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/7946226\/ainbinder-v-comerford-family-limited-partnership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Comerford Family Limited Partnership v. Ainbinder<\/em><\/a>, a judge examined the deeds that had passed down to and through the Comerford family, owners of vast lands in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/forms\/pennsylvania\/mineral-deed\/sullivan\/\">Sullivan County<\/a>, Pennsylvania:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In a 1955 deed conveying land from William Monahan to the White Ash Land Association. Monahan excepted and reserved \u201call mineral rights and all minerals\u201d including gas, oil, coal and iron \u2014 and surface rights to access the minerals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In a 1958 deed, William conveyed to a nephew, John Monahan, \u201call of the mineral and surface rights\u201d to a portion of the acreage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 2016 deed, from John\u2019s heir Robert Ainbinder, quitclaimed oil and gas rights that had been transferred to John through William\u2019s 1958 deed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, the Comerford Family Limited Partnership (heirs of William Monahan) filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/what-is-a-quiet-title-action\/\">quiet title action<\/a>. Their argument? Under Pennsylvania\u2019s Dunham Rule, William could not have legally transferred oil and gas rights because oil and gas are not \u201cminerals\u201d in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Let the Royalties Resume!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"966\" height=\"476\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/let-the-royalties-resume.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/let-the-royalties-resume.webp 966w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/let-the-royalties-resume-300x148.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/let-the-royalties-resume-768x378.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 966px) 100vw, 966px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, Sullivan County\u2019s Court of Common Pleas declared that the Comerford family owned the oil and gas. The 2016 quitclaim was an invalid cloud on the Comerfords\u2019 title, said the court. It was ordered stricken from the county records. And the royalties resumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On appeal, the Superior Court discussed the legal language of Pennsylvania property deeds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The word \u201cexception\u201d in a deed means withholding something from the deed transfer (which would have otherwise passed to the party receiving the deed).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The word \u201creservation\u201d in a deed creates a new property interest that did not exist before.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Title to excepted or reserved property remains with the person who\u2019s granting the deed. What\u2019s excepted or reserved does <em>not<\/em> go to the deed recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dunham Rule Alive and Well in Pennsylvania<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now we get to the Dunham Rule. Established in an 1882 Pennsylvania court case, the Dunham Rule makes Pennsylvania different from most other states on oil and gas rights. Under the Dunham Rule, shale gas and oil don\u2019t meet the definition of minerals. Transferring a property deed with a reservation or an exception for \u201cminerals\u201d does not effectively reserve gas or oil rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, William\u2019s grant of \u201call mineral and surface rights\u201d in the 1958 deed failed to vest the oil and gas in his nephew John. Therefore, no oil and gas rights were legally transferred by the 2016 deed. That left the Comerford family with the oil and gas rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To this day, Pennsylvania heirs\u2019 claims to oil and gas rights fail if their families withheld or reserved \u201cminerals\u201d rather than naming oil and gas specifically. The Dunham Rule, says the Pennsylvania court, \u201cremains alive and well here in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In Adjacent Ohio, Mineral Rights Prove Hard for Treasure-Hunting LLCs to Dig Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-style-rounded is-style-rounded--3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"882\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/in-adjacent-ohio.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/in-adjacent-ohio.webp 882w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/in-adjacent-ohio-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/in-adjacent-ohio-768x429.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year in Ohio, the Seventh District Court of Appeals decided the case of <em>Cardinal Minerals, LLC v. Miller<\/em>, which addressed the state\u2019s Dormant Mineral Act. We talked about this case then, but it bears reviewing here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1922, the Pfalzgrafs conveyed a deed to property in Monroe County, Ohio \u2014 except for the oil and gas rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately the Miller family acquired this property. The Millers wanted to lease the property to Eclipse Resources, an oil and gas drilling company. Eclipse spotted the Pfalzgraf deed language. This got in the way of the Millers\u2019 plans. In 2013, the Millers submitted a Dormant Mineral Act filing. This would let them claim the mineral rights if certain conditions are met \u2014 like notifying the heirs of those long-ago withheld rights to the resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the Dormant Mineral Act, the county recorder added a notation of abandonment to the Pfalzgraf transfer. That notation freed the Millers to sign an oil and gas lease with Eclipse Resources, which they did in 2014. As we shall see, the Ohio courts would back them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mineral-Hunting LLC Comes for the Millers\u2019 Royalties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cardinal Minerals, LLC was established to acquire deeds with abandoned resource interests and litigate over them. They zeroed in on cases where notice was served by newspaper publication \u2014 so they could argue that certified mail is a more dependable form of notifying heirs. As it happened, the Millers\u2019 title company had served notice to the Pfalzgraf heirs by a newspaper publication, not by certified mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2022, Cardinal paid Pfalzgraf heirs $100 each for quitclaims releasing any potential oil and gas interests they might have had. Cardinal also got the heirs to sign over Assignment of Claims so the LLC could make claims to the oil \u2014 buying rights to a lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, Cardinal sued the Millers and the oil company for trespass. The trial court dismissed the suit, and declared Cardinal\u2019s purchased deeds void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seventh District Court of Appeals Affirms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On appeal, the Millers\u2019 rights were upheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lack of mailed notification to the heirs by the Millers did not convince the court that the LLC had a case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, the appeals court agreed with the trial court\u2019s use of the broadly used (not just in Ohio) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/champerty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>doctrine of champerty and maintenance<\/em><\/a>, which courts use to deter people from orchestrating court cases and cutting deals with the parties to grab a share of the proceeds. In short, the court was not willing to suffer an LLC creating legal trouble to make a profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Important note: <\/em><\/strong>Articles on <em>Deeds.com<\/em> are for general information only. Case-specific circumstances impact the outcome of legal questions and disputes. Contact a reputable lawyer in your state for individual guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-accent-5-background-color has-background has-small-font-size is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<p><strong>Supporting References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robert J. Burnett for Houston Harbaugh, PC via JD Supra, LLC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jdsupra.com\/legalnews\/pennsylvania-superior-court-reaffirms-6765471\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pennsylvania Superior Court Reaffirms the Dunham Rule<\/a> (Jan. 15, 2025; citing the November 2024 case <em>Comerford Family Limited Partnership v. Ainbinder<\/em>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Deeds.com<\/em>:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/ohio-court-ruling-clarifies-rights-under-the-dormant-mineral-act-and-enforces-champerty-doctrine-in-cardinal-minerals-llc-v-miller\/\">Ohio Court Ruling Clarifies Rights Under the Dormant Mineral Act and Enforces Champerty Doctrine in Cardinal Minerals, LLC v. Miller<\/a> (Jun. 12, 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as linked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More on topics: A home\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/will-you-own-the-mineral-water-and-air-rights-to-your-new-home\/\">mineral, water, and air rights<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/lost-deed-to-inherited-mineral-or-oil-rights-what-should-i-do\/\">Lost deed to inherited mineral or oil rights<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Image credits: <a href=\"https:\/\/pxhere.com\/en\/photo\/118890\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nicholas A. Tonelli<\/a> via PxHere.com (licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>) and <a href=\"https:\/\/freesvg.org\/petroleum-drilling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OpenClipArt<\/a> via FreeSVG (Public Domain).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shale gas under Pennsylvania farm land is very valuable. Those who might have rights to such land are often challenging each other for the oil rights. In this article, we point out the importance of deed language in deciding these disputes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[3158,3153,3151,3154,3156,3152,3150,785,3155,3157],"class_list":["post-7116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mineral-rights","tag-champerty-doctrine","tag-deed-exceptions","tag-dunham-rule","tag-mineral-reservations","tag-ohio-dormant-mineral-act","tag-oil-and-gas-deeds","tag-pennsylvania-mineral-rights","tag-quiet-title-action","tag-shale-gas-rights","tag-underground-gas-rights"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Pennsylvania Courts Say About Deed Holders\u2019 Underground Gas Rights - Deeds.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How Pennsylvania courts interpret deed language for underground oil and gas rights. 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