47-16-36. Duty of lessee to have terminated or forfeited lease released - Publication
notice - Satisfaction of lease to be recorded - Notice to real property owner - Remedies.
When any oil, gas, or other mineral lease given on real property situated in any county of
North Dakota and recorded therein terminates or is forfeited it is the duty of the lessee, the
lessee's successors or assigns, within fifteen days after the date of the termination or forfeiture
of any lease, to have the lease surrendered in writing, the surrender to be signed by the party
making the same, acknowledged, and placed on record in the county where the leased real
property is situated without cost to the owner thereof. If the lessee, the lessee's successors or
assigns, fails or neglects to execute and record the surrender within the time provided for, then
the owner of the real property may serve upon the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns of
record, in person or by registered or certified mail, at the lessee's last-known address, or if the
post-office address is not shown of record then by publication once a week for three
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the real property is
situated, a notice in writing in substantially the following form:
To ______________: I, the undersigned, owner of the following described land
situated in _____________ County, North Dakota: (description of land) upon which a lease
dated ______________, ______, was given to __________ notify you that the lease has
terminated or become forfeited by breach of the terms thereof, that I elect to declare and do
declare the lease forfeited and void and that, unless you do, within twenty days from this
date, notify the recorder of the county as provided by law that the lease has not been
forfeited, I will file with the recorder a satisfaction of lease as provided by law, and I demand
that you execute or have executed a proper surrender of the lease and that you put the
same of record in the office of the recorder of the county within twenty days from this date.
Dated ______________, ______.
_____________________________
The owner of the real property may after twenty days from the date of service, registration,
or first publication of the notice, file with the recorder of the county where the real property is
situated a satisfaction of lease setting forth that the affiant is the owner of the real property, that
the lease has terminated or that the lessee, or the lessee's successors or assigns, has failed or
neglected to comply with the terms of the lease, reciting the facts constituting the failure and
that the same has been forfeited and is void, and setting out in satisfaction of lease a copy of
the notice served, as above provided and the manner and time of the service thereof. If the
lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, gives notice in writing within twenty days after
service to the recorder of the county where the real property is located that the lease has not
been forfeited and that the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, still claim that the lease
is in full force and effect, then the satisfaction of lease may not be recorded but the recorders
shall notify the owner of the real property of the action of the lessee, the lessee's successors or
assigns, and the owner of the real property is entitled to the remedies now provided by law for
the cancellation of the disputed lease. If the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, fails to
notify the recorder, as above provided, then the recorder shall record the satisfaction of lease
and thereafter the record of the lease is not notice to the public of the existence of the lease or
of any interest therein, or rights thereunder, and the record may not be received in evidence in
any court of the state on behalf of the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, against the
lessor, the lessor's successors or assigns.
