Bulletin: CO000032

Dear Associates:

The above referenced bill which concerns notification regarding mineral rights was signed into law on April 30, 2001 and has an effective date of July 1, 2001. This bill includes the addition of a new Section 10-11-123 to the Colorado Revised Statutes entitled Notification of Severed Mineral Estates. The new statute requires a title insurance agent or title insurance company to provide a Notice in the Commitment for the issuance of an Owner's Policy when documents in the public record disclose a severance of the mineral estate from the surface estate.

The notification required under the statutes should be in the following form:

To comply with the provisions of C.R.S. 10-11-123, the Company makes the following disclosure:

(a) That there is recorded evidence that a mineral estate has been severed, leased or otherwise conveyed from the surface estate and that there is a substantial likelihood that a third party holds some or all interest in oil, gas, other minerals, or geothermal energy in the property; and

(b) That such mineral estate may include the right to enter and use the property without the surface owner's permission.

This notification must be placed on title commitments prepared by issuing offices within Colorado for transactions involving the issuance of an owner's policy, but need not be place on commitments for lenders policies.

If you have any questions in regard to this please feel free to contact underwriting personnel.

Note: To the extent that compliance with this bulletin conflicts with the provisions of other bulletins concerning title search requirements and use of starter files, such as NL000017 and MU000018, this bulletin controls.