1. When any oil, gas, or metallic mineral lease given on land situated in Iowa and recorded, becomes forfeited by failure of the lessee to comply with its provisions or the Iowa law, the lessee shall, within sixty days after date of forfeiture of the lease, have the lease surrendered in writing, duly acknowledged, and placed on record in the county where the leased land is situated. If the lessee fails to execute and record a release of the recorded lease within the time provided for, the owner of the land may execute an affidavit of noncompliance in substantially the following form:

AFFIDAVIT OF NONCOMPLIANCE

State of Iowa             ) County of ……………………             ) ss.  ………………………., being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says that the deponent is …………………… as referred to in an (oil and gas) (metallic mineral) mining lease dated the ………… day of …………………… (month), ……………. (year), which lease is recorded in Volume …………, Page …………, or as Instrument # ………… of the County Records of …………………… County, ……………….., and which lease covers the following described lands: ……………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………...  And further, deponent says that on the ………… day of …………………… (month), ……………. (year), under the terms of said lease, there should have been paid to the deponent or deposited to the deponent’s credit in the ………………………….. Bank of ………………………….. the sum of ……………. Dollars ($…………….), the payment of which was necessary in order to keep the above described lease in force and effect. Deponent hereby swears the above payment has never been made to the deponent or the deponent’s representatives, in money or otherwise, nor has same been deposited to the deponent’s credit in the above bank.  And further, deponent says that there has been no drilling or development of any nature or kind whatsoever done on the land covered by the lease referred to herein, as called for under the terms of said lease. ……………………………………..…………………………………….. Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public for the State of Iowa, this ……………. day of …………………… (month), ………… (year) ……………………………………..Notary Public My commission expires ………………………………….

AFFIDAVIT OF THE BANKER

State of ……………………             ) County of ……………………             ) ss.  I, ……………………, (Cashier) (President) of the …………………… Bank of ……………………, being first duly sworn, upon my oath declare that there has not been deposited to the credit of …………………… in the …………………… Bank of ……………………, by …………………… or any other party, any sum of money whatsoever, in payment of rental under the terms of the (oil and gas) (metallic mineral) mining lease referred to in this affidavit.  Witness my hand this ………… day of …………………… (month), ……………. (year)  …………………………………….. (Cashier) (President) of …………………… Bank  Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public for the State of Iowa on the ……………. day of …………………… (month), ………… (year) ……………………………………..Notary Public My commission expires ………………………………….

Terms Used In Iowa Code 458A.22

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • and: includes the word "or" and the use of the word "or" includes the word "and". See Iowa Code 458A.2
  • Commission: means the environmental protection commission of the department. See Iowa Code 458A.2
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Gas: means and includes all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons which are produced at the wellhead and not defined in this section as oil. See Iowa Code 458A.2
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • oath: includes affirmation in all cases where an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and in like cases the word "swear" includes "affirm". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • Oil: means and includes crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons regardless of gravity which are produced at the wellhead in liquid form and the liquid hydrocarbons known as distillate or condensate recovered or extracted from gas, other than gas produced in association with oil and commonly known as casinghead gas. See Iowa Code 458A.2
  • Owner: means the person who has the right to drill into and produce from a pool and to appropriate the oil or gas that person produces therefrom either for that person or others or for that person and others. See Iowa Code 458A.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The owner of the land shall retain the original affidavit and shall mail a copy of the affidavit by restricted certified mail, as defined in section 618.15, to the lessee. If the lessee, within thirty days after receipt of the affidavit, gives notice in writing, by restricted certified mail, to the owner of the land that the lease has not been forfeited and that the lessee still claims that the lease is in full force and effect, then the owner of the land shall be entitled to the remedies provided by this chapter for the cancellation of such disputed lease.
 3. If the lessee does not notify the owner of the land as provided in subsection 2, then the owner shall file the original affidavit for recording with the county recorder, and thereafter the record of the lease shall not be notice to the public of the existence of the lease or of any interest therein or rights thereunder, and the record shall not be received in evidence in any court of the state on behalf of the lessee against the lessor, and the lease shall stand forfeited.
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