Landowners turn against leasing for ‘fracking’ – Business News – Business – The Independent
December 19, 2011
Landowners turn against leasing for ‘fracking’ – Business News – Business – The Independent.
Gas Leases Pose Conflicts with Mortgages
November 14, 2011
Tompkins Weekly – Your Source for Local News and Events.
Gas Leases Pose Conflicts with Mortgages–Tompkins Weekly Nov. 12, 2011
Homeowners and Gas Drilling Leases. by Elizabeth Radow. NYSBA Journal nov-dec2011.indd
October 29, 2011
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Homeowners and Gas Drilling Leases. by Elizabeth Radow. NYSBA Journal nov-dec2011.indd
Great article by Beth Radow –
In some Texas towns, the gas well setback is 1000 feet from a house, so mortgages/ homeowners liability less of an issue
In NYS, the setback of a gas well from a house is 100 feet = GEIS 17 A. 1. B. 1. b. = which would put any mortgage into default.
That plus NYS egregious CI law and a NY mortgage covenant could trip.
As evidence of risk increases, the mortgage and insurance guidelines will change
Meaning the lender’s mortgage /insurance setbacks will increase for houses on water wells in particular.
As gas wells age, they leak on the outside of the outermost casing. This introduces methane into groundwater. Which pollutes wells.
Not much of a problem in Texas, New Mexico or Colorado = no ground water wells. In NY, a problem.
So mortgage / insurance guideline/ covenants are apt to become more stringent for NY rural residences on water wells. ]
Would not let this go unremarked . . . .http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DSGEIS_Responses
Jim Northrup
Tompkins governments, Hinchey draw attention to drilling’s impact on mortgages | The Ithaca Journal | theithacajournal.com
October 22, 2011
Tompkins governments, Hinchey draw attention to drilling’s impact on mortgages
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Ithaca — Mortgage rules governing gas drilling are in question following reports in The New York Times and by the Tompkins County Council of Governments’ Task Force on Drilling.
The reports have led Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd, to send letters to the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, asking they initiate an examination of how mortgage rules on gas drilling will affect more than 1 million gas leases signed between shale gas drilling companies and property owners.
Some banks have policies of not offering mortgages on properties with gas leases. As a result, some landowners have had difficulty selling or refinancing their homes.
The Tompkins County Council of Governments’ Task Force on Drilling asked state officials in May to implement requirements as part of gas drilling regulations to prevent unintended negative consequences on the realestate market and county assessment rolls.
A subcommittee of the task force reported that lenders are reluctant to approve residential mortgages on the increasing number of properties where leases do not conform with regulations of thesecondary mortgage market.
Hinchey said this week that the problem can be attributed to rushing into drilling.
“Many homeowners who signed leases now have questions about their mortgages and their ability to refinance or resell their homes, because important information was not brought to their attention by drilling companies pushing to them to lease their land,” Hinchey said.
Hinchey said he has asked federal and state regulators for clarification on mortgage rules and an examination of leases that were already signed to determine the extent of mortgage violations that may have occurred.
New guidelines will help homeowners and local banks protect their own financial interests, he said.
Rush to Drill for Gas Creates Mortgage Conflicts – Ian Urbina, NYTimes.com 10-20-11
October 20, 2011
Rush to Drill for Gas Creates Mortgage Conflicts – NYTimes.com.
Check out this article in today’s New York Times:
There’s some really important documents that explain out all of the details about what the conflicts are and what rules are being broken. You can read through them here, and they’ve got little bubbles that show you what the important parts are and what they mean. Very worth checking out.
It makes sense. Fracking for shale gas and oil requires thousands of wells, many of which are drilled near where people live. Drilling accidents and the environmental problems with fracking happen on land that people own, land that people have mortgages on, land whose property value will plunge if the water goes bad or people get sick. The mortgage industry wrote up rules that are supposed to protect banks against these risks. These rules would bar wastewater impoundment pits near people’s houses, would require minimum distances between a home and a gas well, would give the bank the right to review the lease the landman was offering so they could make sure the gas company wouldn’t be allowed to tear up the surface of the land. But these rules aren’t being followed.
Check out some of the documents that explain how some small bankers and credit union officials see the problems:
GDACC 
