Herder Springs vs.Keller hearing on Title Washing – PA Supreme Court – Oct 2015
The Herder Spring v. Keller lawsuit has reached the PA Supreme Court. The video posted here is a recording of the oral arguments about the case to the Justices in October of 2015. A decision has not issued yet. THR sees this as an important test case about the validity of so-called title washing. In Keller, the underlying fact pattern is basically the same as for the Thornes and others, even though the acreage is not in Sullivan County. Importantly, the legal issues presented are very similar, too: a properly recording reservation of mineral rights from the late 1800’s where the surface land above the rights went through a tax sale decades later which allegedly resulted in passing the ownership of the mineral rights to the buyer of the surface land at the tax sale, even though there was never any notice to the Kellers, and their holding was never assessed or taxed. THR, Hoyt Royalty, and the Proctor Family have been sharing the cost of this test case.
