In recognition that such leases and licenses create an interest in real estate, all leases, licenses, and assignments thereof, or of any interest therein, given or made concerning lands or tenements in this state, by which any right is granted to operate or to sink or drill wells thereon for natural gas and petroleum or either, or pertaining thereto, shall be filed for record and recorded in such lease record without delay, and shall not be removed until recorded. No such lease or assignment thereof shall be accepted for record after September 24, 1963, unless it contains the mailing address of both the lessor and lessee or assignee. If the county in which the land subject to any such lease is located maintains permanent parcel numbers or sectional indexes pursuant to section 317.20 of the Revised Code, no such lease shall be accepted for record after December 31, 1984, unless it contains the applicable permanent parcel number and the information required by section 317.20 of the Revised Code to index such lease in the sectional indexes; and, in the event any such lease recorded after December 31, 1984, is subsequently assigned in whole or in part, and the county in which the land subject thereto is located maintains records by microfilm or other microphotographic process, the assignment shall contain the same descriptive information required to be included in the original lease by this sentence, but the omission of the information required by this section does not affect the validity of any lease. Whenever any such lease is forfeited for failure of the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns to abide by specifically described covenants provided for in the lease, or because the term of the lease has expired, the lessee, the lessee's successors or assigns, shall have such lease released of record in the county where such land is situated without cost to the owner thereof.

No such lease or license is valid until it is filed for record, except as between the parties thereto, unless the person claiming thereunder is in actual and open possession.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 9, §1, eff. 3/23/2015.

Effective Date: 09-20-1984 .