What Are Mineral Rights When Buying High Desert Land?

Buying vacant land in Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, or elsewhere in the California High Desert can seem pretty straightforward.

You find a parcel you like. You check the zoning, access, water, power, and whether you can build what you have in mind.

Then the preliminary title report arrives and you see language about mineral rights, oil and gas rights, reservations, or subsurface rights.

Wait.

Didn't you just buy the land?

Maybe. But owning the surface of a property does not necessarily mean you own every right associated with what may be underneath it.

Mineral rights are one more piece of vacant-land due diligence that buyers should understand before purchasing High Desert property.

What Are Mineral Rights?

Mineral rights generally refer to rights associated with minerals or other resources beneath the surface of a property.

Depending on the property and the documents involved, these rights may have been retained or transferred separately from ownership of the surface land.

In other words, ownership can potentially be divided into different interests.

You may own the surface rights—the land you see and use—while someone else owns or retains certain rights to minerals beneath the property.

This is sometimes referred to as a split estate.

Can Mineral Rights Be Separate From the Land?

Yes.

Mineral rights can sometimes be sold, transferred, reserved, or retained separately from the surface property.

That separation may have happened decades ago.

A previous owner may have transferred the property while reserving certain mineral rights. Those rights may then have been transferred again, inherited, or otherwise become part of the property's recorded history.

That is why a current seller may not necessarily be able to answer a buyer's mineral-rights questions simply by looking at the property.

The answer may be buried in recorded documents rather than buried under the dirt.

Why Does This Matter When Buying High Desert Land?

For many buyers purchasing a residential lot or several acres in the High Desert, mineral rights may never have any practical effect on how they use the property.

But that doesn't mean they should be ignored.

A buyer should understand whether the title to the property contains mineral reservations or other recorded rights and, when something appears, what those documents actually say.

This can be particularly important when buying larger or more remote desert acreage.

Will the Preliminary Title Report Show Mineral Rights?

A preliminary title report may identify recorded exceptions, reservations, or documents involving mineral rights.

Sometimes the preliminary report will reference an older recorded document rather than explain the entire provision.

If you see something such as:

“Minerals reserved in deed recorded…”

don't stop at that sentence.

Ask the title company for a copy of the document referenced in the preliminary title report.

The underlying document may contain important details about exactly what was reserved and whether additional rights were included.

Does a Mineral Reservation Mean Someone Can Start Digging on My Property?

Not necessarily.

This is where buyers should avoid making assumptions in either direction.

The existence of a mineral reservation does not automatically tell you what another party can physically do on the surface of the property.

Those rights can depend on the language of the recorded documents, the nature of the ownership interest, applicable law, permitting requirements, environmental regulations, and other factors.

If a mineral reservation raises concerns about how you intend to use or develop the property, this is an appropriate question for the title company and, when necessary, a qualified real estate attorney.

Mineral Rights Are Different From Mining Claims

This distinction can be especially important when looking at remote desert property.

A mineral-rights reservation associated with private property and a mining claim involving public land are not necessarily the same thing.

Large areas of the California desert include federal land administered by agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management. Mining claims and mineral interests involving public land operate under a different framework from simply purchasing a privately owned residential parcel.

Don't assume that seeing evidence of old mining activity nearby tells you anything about the mineral ownership of the parcel you're considering.

And don't assume that buying acreage gives you rights to neighboring public land.

Can I Buy Land Without the Mineral Rights?

Potentially, yes.

A property can be transferred even though some mineral rights were previously reserved or conveyed separately.

Whether that matters to you depends on what was reserved, the specific property, and what you intend to do with the land.

For someone purchasing a residential homesite, the issue may be very different from someone purchasing hundreds of acres for investment or resource-related purposes.

The important thing is knowing what you're buying.

What Should I Check Before Buying High Desert Land?

When reviewing a vacant parcel, don't look at mineral rights in isolation.

Your overall due diligence should include:

• The preliminary title report and any referenced mineral reservations
• Legal and physical access
• Easements affecting the property
• Zoning and permitted uses
• Water availability
• Electricity and other utilities
• Septic feasibility
• Flood zones and drainage
• Property boundaries and surveys when appropriate
• Topography and usable acreage
• Development costs
• Any recorded restrictions affecting your intended use

Mineral rights are simply another piece of the larger puzzle.

Ask for the Recorded Document

One of the most useful habits a vacant-land buyer can develop is this:

When a preliminary title report references another recorded document, ask to see the document.

That applies to mineral reservations, easements, CC&Rs, road agreements, restrictions, and other exceptions.

A one-line description on a preliminary title report rarely tells the entire story.

Don't Assume What's Included With the Dirt

Vacant land looks simple because there isn't a house sitting on it.

Legally and practically, it can be anything but simple.

A five-acre parcel can involve decades of deeds, easements, reservations, access rights, utility rights, and other recorded interests that aren't visible when you're standing on the property.

That's why I encourage buyers to investigate the parcel rather than simply fall in love with the view.

The goal isn't to find land with absolutely no complications.

It's to understand what you're actually buying before you buy it.

Thinking About Buying Land in the High Desert?

I work with buyers and sellers of vacant land throughout the Morongo Basin, including Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree, and Yucca Valley.

If you've found a parcel and aren't sure what questions you should be asking, I can help you work through the practical due-diligence issues before you make your decision.

Contact Dawn Anderson, Broker — Sell29.com

Tell me what you want to do with the land—not just how many acres you want—and we can start from there.

Dawn Anderson is a California real estate broker serving buyers and sellers in the High Desert. This information is provided for general educational purposes and is not legal, planning, zoning, surveying, engineering, environmental, water, wastewater, utility, investment or permitting advice. San Bernardino County zoning and development standards can change, and map suffixes, overlays, community plans, environmental regulations and parcel-specific conditions may modify general standards. Buyers should independently verify the complete zoning designation, permitted uses and proposed project with San Bernardino County and appropriately qualified professionals before purchasing or developing property.