Ohio Court Holds Defective Execution Does Not Invalidate Oil and Gas Lease
The Eleventh District Court of Appeals held that an oil and gas lease that is defectively acknowledged is still valid between the parties. In Dedor v. Reserve Energy Corp., a notary was not present when the lessors executed the oil and gas lease. Instead, the notary publicly acknowledged their signatures later. The lessors sought a declaratory judgment against the lessee that the lease was void due to the defective acknowledgement. The appeals court granted judgment in favor of the lessee citing the long-standing Ohio rule that a defectively executed instrument, when signed by the property owner, may be enforced against him as a contract to make a lease because it is his contract.