Article Fourth : Open the Books

tpltblogger14 Comments

Demand to Inspect Certain Books

Reference is made to the Declaration of Trust of Texas Pacific Land Trust, dated February 1, 1888, by Charles J. Canda, Simeon J. Drake and William Strauss (the “Declaration of Trust”). Article Fourth of said Declaration of Trust demands that the trustees cause books to be kept showing all “matters relating to the financial affairs and business of the trust… .” Article Fourth of the Declaration of Trust further demands that such books be open to inspection of the registered certificate holders.

Based on the foregoing, we hereby demand that you immediately make available….

Declaration of Trust (for your clicking convenience) 

14 thoughts on “Article Fourth : Open the Books”

  1. Boom. Murray Stahl and Eric Oliver are coming after them hard. Lot’s of interesting points they bring up/things they want (and that we all) deserve answers on.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. This is an amazingly great list of items to disclose. I also love that they are doing this outside the lawsuit — the trust document itself allows such inspection by subshare holders. Their requests are specific and the scope is tight; it is hard (IMO) for the trust to say “No; we don’t want to share.” I especially like that they are asking for the questionnaires filled out by prior trustees. I’m sure we will learn there were previously no 25 page documents proving “qualifications.” Yet it will sound like this from the trust: “We destroyed those records because (insert excuse.)”

    Liked by 3 people

  6. It’s a lock that the books are cooked in some way. There is ok other explanation for the. behavior.

    I’m worried, but as someone pointed out, cleaning up would be good for the stock.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. One has to wonder why HK/Softvest released this letter today, with no additional comments. The lack of their comments suggests they are refraining from sharing editorial opinions while the parties all talk privately.

    It does show they are going to keep the burner on high as a way of pressuring the Trustees to settle. And a refusal of the trustees to share this information then becomes further material that can requested in discovery related to their countersuit.

    The Judge ordered both parties to talk no later than 6/14/2019 face to face, before their required status report is due 6/21/2019. This means they could have been talking already. Its interesting timing to release this letter today.

    This may not be related, but I find it fascinating the letter dated 5/31 asks about the airplane. Which on the same day flew 14 minutes from Dallas Executive airport (RDB) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW). It hasn’t moved since according to the Flight Aware website, and in the previous 3 months had not been to DFW. Previously it was on the move every week or so. Perhaps a quick decision was made to sell the plane and its now at a broker?

    Liked by 2 people

  9. My good friend had this to say about it.

    “Softvest has a good counsel- Gibson Dunn is a solid firm. Here is his bio:
    https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/walters-robert-c/
    Lots of trial experience. He’s big guns.

    So this is what is called the discovery phase of the lawsuit. They will ask for documents and for written answers to questions. TPL board has a prescribed time to respond. You will see dates given. They will ask for and be denied requests to extend. Federal court goes quicker – I think it’s 20 days for a response. They will then set depositions which are recorded interviews with the board members to answer questions in person. Then they will go to a court status conference and try to settle it or set trial dates. The goal of the court is always to get them to settle before trial. In the 23 years I worked in law my attorneys only went to trial a handful of times. It’s an expensive process and if you run a business – not where you want to spend your money and time. ”

    So fingers crossed this gets settled quickly.

    thanks for everyone posting their observations. It feels like a rag tag Scooby Doo Mystery Inc investigative club on our holdings. Major thanks for TPLblogger for giving us the opportunity to share comments.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. The trust giveth and taketh. This makes me optimistic. I was resigned to getting Eric Oliver on and waiting for one of the others to die but now I am beginning to think there is a good chance that the current trustees might have to make a deal to prevent being personally liable. If books are inspected I suspect there will be a good chance to prove breach of fiduciary responsibilities. I think the current trustees must be getting nervous. It is quite clear to me that we should be able to inspect the books.

    Liked by 3 people

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