Legal Definitions - coal notice

A coal notice is a specific legal disclosure required in the state of Pennsylvania when real estate is sold, particularly when the ownership of the land's surface is being transferred. This notice must be included in official documents like property deeds to inform the buyer if the ownership of the coal beneath the surface has been separated from the land itself. Its purpose is to ensure that buyers are fully aware if they are purchasing only the surface rights and not the valuable mineral rights to the coal below. This requirement applies to most property sales but excludes certain types of transactions, such as mortgages or quitclaim deeds.

Here are some examples illustrating how a coal notice applies:

• Residential Home Purchase: Imagine a couple, the Millers, buying a charming old house in a town in Pennsylvania that historically had coal mining operations. Decades ago, the original owner of the land sold the rights to the coal beneath the property to a mining company, but kept the surface land for the house. When the Millers sign the deed to purchase their new home, the document must contain a coal notice. This notice will explicitly state that while they are buying the house and the land it sits on (the surface), the ownership of any coal beneath their property belongs to a separate entity. This informs them that they do not own the mineral rights to the coal.

• Agricultural Land Sale: Consider a farmer, Ms. Chen, who decides to sell her family farm in rural Pennsylvania. Many years ago, her grandparents had sold the subsurface coal rights to a coal company, but the family continued to own and farm the surface land. When Ms. Chen executes the deed to transfer the farm to the new owners, a coal notice must be included. This notice will clearly inform the buyers that although they are acquiring the surface land for agricultural purposes, the coal beneath the farm is owned by a different party, meaning they cannot claim or profit from any coal extraction.

• Commercial Property Development: A real estate development company, "Urban Sprawl Inc.," is purchasing a large tract of undeveloped land in western Pennsylvania to build a new shopping center. The land's previous owner had, at some point, legally separated the coal rights and sold them to a mining consortium. The deed transferring the land to Urban Sprawl Inc. will include a coal notice. This notice is crucial for the developer, as it confirms that their purchase only includes the surface rights necessary for construction, and they do not own the valuable coal deposits underneath the property. This prevents future disputes over subsurface mineral ownership and clarifies the scope of their property rights.