Opinion ID: 2787081
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “At-Will” Lease

Text: Tayfur first argues that he can terminate the lease at any time because the lease is an “at will” lease under Pennsylvania state law. To support this argument, Tayfur relies on section 250.202 of Pennsylvania’s Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. 68 Pa. Stat. § 250.202 (West 2014). This section provides that leases of real property (including personal property) that have a duration longer than three years must be “in writing and signed by the parties.” Id. If such a lease is not signed and in writing, then “it shall have the force and effect of a lease at will only and shall not be given any greater force or effect either in law or equity.” Id. This provision initially appears to apply to the lease at 6 issue. First, the duration of the lease at issue did exceed three years: it had a primary term of ten years. (Appx. at 112). Further, it is undisputed that CAP—an original party to the lease—did not sign the lease. (Id. at 113). However, as noted by both the Bankruptcy and District Courts, Tayfur’s argument cannot withstand further scrutiny of the type of lease at issue in this case. Section 250.202 is part of Pennsylvania’s Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. The lease between the parties is not a landlord-tenant agreement; rather, it is an oil and gas lease. As explained by the Bankruptcy and District Courts, oil and gas leases are “far from the simplest of property concepts.” In re Tayfur, 513 B.R. at 287 (quoting Brown v. Haight, 255 A.2d 508, 510 (Pa. 1969)); In re Tayfur, 505 B.R. at 681 (same). “A mineral lessee is unquestionably more in the position of a purchaser than in that of a mere occupant of the land.” Kepple v. Fairman Drilling Co., 551 A.2d 226, 230 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988) (quoting Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. v. Evans, 338 S.W.3d 666, 669 (Ark. 1960)). For these reasons, Pennsylvania courts have held that oil and gas leases in Pennsylvania are not governed by Pennsylvania’s Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. E.g., Derrickheim Co. v. Brown, 451 A.2d 477, 479 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1982) (“[O]il and gas leases are not controlled by normal landlord and tenant law.” (citing Kuntz, A Treatise on The Law of Oil and Gas, section 52.1 (1978))). Pennsylvania law therefore dictates that the lease at issue is not governed by Pennsylvania’s Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. Tayfur’s arguments that the lease is terminable at will based on his interpretation of that statute are accordingly without merit. 7