Gerrity v. Chervenak (Slip Opinion) (2020)

Gerrity at ¶ 32, 36. {¶66} The Ohio Supreme Court has held a surface owner who fails to exercise reasonable diligence in their search for holders of the severed mineral interests is not entitled to abandonment.

Gerrity, 162 Ohio St.3d 694 at ¶ 32, 36 . “[T]he issue is not whether the surface owner could have located all mineral-rights holders by exercising reasonable diligence.

Gerrity at ¶ 31, 34.

Gerrity at ¶ 35. {¶24} In Gerrity, the surface owner searched the public records in the county where the property was located for any holders, located an address in another county for a possible holder, searched that county’s public records to no avail, and unsuccessfully attempted service at one potential address.

Answering that question involves a straightforward application of Gerrity. 10 January Term, 2022 {¶ 25} In Gerrity, the surface owner searched public records in both Guernsey County, the county where the mineral interest was located, and Cuyahoga County, the county in which the mineral-rights holder was last known to have resided. 162 Ohio St.3d 694 , 2020-Ohio-6705 , 166 N.E.3d 1230, at ¶ 2-3, 32 .

See Gerrity v. Chervenak, 162 Ohio St.3d 694 , 2020-Ohio- 6705: Review of publicly available property and court records in the county where the land subject to a severed mineral interest is located will generally establish a baseline of reasonable diligence in identifying the holder or holders of the severed mineral interest.