OH Supreme Crt Considers Whether Landmen Need Real Estate License

| | |
In March MDN reported on a court case decided in Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals that seems to say that at least some landmen in Ohio DO need to be licensed real estate agents, in order to get paid (see OH Court Rules Landmen Need to be Licensed Real Estate Brokers). Although the court decision was deep in the weeds with legalese, our takeaway was that if a landman is compensated via a commission for the deals he or she brokers, that person needs to have a real estate license. If the landman is paid "day rate"--that is, paid by the day by a drilling company to get deals signed no matter how many deals and no matter the value of the deals--that landman does not need a real estate license. At least that's our understanding. However, the issue isn't settled yet. The case decided in March, Dundics v. Eric Petroleum Corp., was appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court by those not happy with the outcome that some landmen will need a real estate license. The Supremes have just agreed to hear the case...

To view this content, log into your member account. (Not a member? Join Today!)