PA Supremes Important Decision for Landowners re “Title Washing”

Alice, get ready to go down the rabbit hole into litigation Wonderland. This post is about a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision issued on May 30, 2025. In the case Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Game Commission v. Thomas E. Proctor Heirs Trust, the PA Supremes addressed a question from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether a 1908 tax sale of an "unseated" (undeveloped) parcel of land, the Haines Warrant, constituted a "title wash" that divested the subsurface estate owners of their ownership interest. We think the case has broader implications for landowners and drillers with respect to who owns mineral rights that have been separated from surface rights.

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