What is a surface ownership report?

A surface ownership report identifies who owns the surface estate of a tract of land and proves it by tracing every recorded instrument affecting that surface — deeds, probates, court decrees, and conveyances — from the original government patent forward to the present owner. It states the current owners, their fractional interests, and the form of co-ownership between them.

Why is surface ownership separate from mineral ownership?

In New Mexico and across most of the western United States, the surface estate and the mineral estate can be severed and owned by different people. A deed that conveys land while reserving the minerals splits the two permanently. From that point forward, the surface and mineral chains diverge and must be traced separately — which is why Archive produces separate surface and mineral reports.

Who uses a surface ownership report?

Operators and their landmen use it before placing a well pad, a road, a pipeline, or a facility, because the surface owner is the party they must negotiate a surface-use agreement with. Land brokers, private-equity groups, and title attorneys use it in diligence, where knowing who must sign is the difference between a deal that closes and one that does not.

How is this different from a title opinion?

An Archive report is a research product compiled from public records. It is not a title opinion, a title commitment, title insurance, or a certified abstract, and it is not legal advice. A title opinion is a lawyer's professional judgment about who owns a tract and what defects encumber it, and only a licensed attorney can render one. Archive assembles and verifies the record on which such a judgment is made — thoroughly, quickly, and at a set price — and expects you to have it reviewed before you rely on it.

What does a real Archive surface report contain?

The delivered package contains a PDF report (the ownership determination, the chain of title, and the analysis behind it), a runsheet spreadsheet listing every instrument affecting the tract, and a compilation of the source PDF of every document relied upon — so that every statement in the report can be checked against the record it came from.

Is the data on this page real?

No. The parties, tracts, and instruments shown on this page are fictional and are used to illustrate the format and depth of a real package. A real Archive report is built from actual recorded county records.

Surface Ownership Report

A surface ownership report traces every recorded instrument affecting the surface estate of a tract — from the original government patent to the present owner — and states who owns the surface today, in what shares, and how they came to own it. It is the record behind the answer, not just the answer.

The package below is a complete, working example. The parties and tracts in it are fictional; the format, the depth, and the analysis are exactly what Archive delivers.

Last updated July 13, 2026

Illustrative sample — fictional data. Parties, dates, instruments, and records are invented to demonstrate the report format. This is not a real title report.

Surface Ownership Report

Sample

NW/4 NE/4, Section 14, Township 24 South, Range 28 East, N.M.P.M.

↓ Download sample package (.zip)

or grab the report PDF · runsheet Excel

A real Archive package also includes every source instrument gathered and analyzed — typically 40–150 recorded deeds, patents, mortgages, and court orders. This sample shows the two deliverables that summarize them: the report and the runsheet.

Archive Ledger, Inc.

SURFACE OWNERSHIP REPORT

Archive Title Examination System

County:Eddy County, New Mexico

Section:14

Township:24 South

Range:28 East, N.M.P.M.

Report Date:06/28/2026

Record Date:12/27/2025

Report ID:SOR-14-24S-28E-NWNE-260628-100000-SMPL

Interest Type:Surface

Legal Description:NW/4 NE/4, Section 14, Township 24 South, Range 28 East, N.M.P.M.

Total Acres:40.00 acres, more or less

Compiled By:Archive Ledger, Inc.

This report is supplied without warranty, either express or implied. This is not a title opinion and does not constitute legal advice.

CURRENT SURFACE OWNERSHIP

OWNER NAME	INTEREST	NET ACRES	SOURCE DOCUMENT
Mulvane Family Trust	50.00000000%	20.0000	D 246/582
Ashby Family Partnership, LP	50.00000000%	20.0000	D 268/403
TOTAL:	100.00000000%	40.0000

Tenancy: Tenancy in Common

Confidence: High

Section Diagram — Section 14 — T24S, R28E

TITLE NOTES

The following instruments of public record affect or relate to the surface title of the subject lands. Instruments are grouped by transaction type and listed chronologically within each group.

1. SOURCE OF TITLE

PATENT (P 1/171), dated 05/19/1892, from United States of America to J.R. Thornton. Conveying 100.00000000% surface interest.

2. CHAIN OF TITLE

WARRANTY DEED (D 3/32), dated 10/25/1892, from J.R. Thornton to Western Land Company. Conveying 100.00000000% surface interest.

QUITCLAIM DEED (D 6/200), dated 09/03/1895, from Western Land Company to Permian Irrigation Company. Conveying 100.00000000% surface interest.

SPECIAL MASTER'S DEED (D 7/576), dated 01/10/1901, from Permian Irrigation Company to Basin Water Company. Conveying 100.00000000% surface interest.

WARRANTY DEED (D 15/289), dated 03/15/1905, from Basin Water Company to Rio Grande Land & Cattle Company. Conveying 100.00000000% surface interest.

WARRANTY DEED (D 22/114), dated 11/08/1910, from Rio Grande Land & Cattle Company to W.F. Dawson. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

WARRANTY DEED (D 22/116), dated 11/08/1910, from Rio Grande Land & Cattle Company to M.E. Patterson. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

WARRANTY DEED (D 55/309), dated 03/22/1929, from M.E. Patterson to J.R. Whitaker. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

DECREE OF DISTRIBUTION (MISC 41/77), dated 06/03/1931, from Estate of William F. Dawson, deceased to Eleanor Dawson Hatch. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest by inheritance.

WARRANTY DEED (D 71/56), dated 06/14/1939, from J.R. Whitaker to Whitaker Land & Cattle Company. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

WARRANTY DEED (D 84/59), dated 11/18/1945, from Eleanor Dawson Hatch to Caprock Cattle Company. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

QUITCLAIM DEED (D 88/76), dated 01/10/1958, from Surviving Spouse and Heirs of Eleanor Dawson Hatch to Caprock Cattle Company. (No additional surface interest transferred — curative quitclaim joining the surviving spouse and heirs of Eleanor Dawson Hatch to confirm the 1945 conveyance and release any community or marital interest.)

WARRANTY DEED (JOINT TENANTS) (D 163/17), dated 12/14/1959, from Whitaker Land & Cattle Company to R.E. Ashby and Marguerite S. Ashby, as joint tenants. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest, as joint tenants.

WARRANTY DEED (D 112/162), dated 04/17/1969, from Caprock Cattle Company to T.R. Mulvane. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

PROBATE (MISC 463/5), dated 10/07/1985, from Estate of R.E. Ashby, deceased to Marguerite S. Ashby. (No additional surface interest transferred — vests in the surviving joint tenant, Marguerite S. Ashby.)

QUITCLAIM DEED (D 268/403), dated 12/01/1986, from Marguerite S. Ashby to Ashby Family Partnership, LP. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

QUITCLAIM DEED (D 246/582), dated 11/12/1989, from T.R. Mulvane to Mulvane Family Trust, T.R. Mulvane, Trustee. Conveying an undivided 50.00000000% surface interest.

3. TAX SALES AND ADJUDICATIONS

DECREE QUIETING TITLE (MISC 12/305), dated 04/09/1918, from District Court of Eddy County (Patterson v. Caldwell) to M.E. Patterson. (No additional surface interest transferred — confirms M.E. Patterson's undivided 50% interest.)

Quiet-title decree confirming M.E. Patterson against the adverse claim of H.D. Caldwell; does not create new surface ownership.

TAX DEED (TXD 4/210), dated 11/03/1936, from Eddy County Treasurer to State of New Mexico. Conveying tax title to the undivided 50.00000000% interest assessed to Eleanor Dawson Hatch.

Tax sale for delinquent 1933–1935 taxes on the Dawson undivided 50% interest. Redeemed — see TXD 6/55.

TAX DEED (REDEMPTION) (TXD 6/55), dated 09/14/1939, from State of New Mexico to Eleanor Dawson Hatch. (No additional surface interest transferred — redemption restoring the undivided 50% interest to Eleanor Dawson Hatch.)

Redeemed within the statutory period; title restored with no break in the chain.

4. ENCUMBRANCES AND LIENS

[ADVISORY] DEED OF TRUST (MTG 3/522). Deed of trust securing a $2,500.00 note against the surface estate.

Released of record by Release of Deed of Trust (MTG 9/14), dated 02/20/1900.

[ADVISORY] MORTGAGE (MTG 25/88). Mortgage securing an $1,800.00 note against the undivided 50% interest of W. F. Dawson.

No release of this mortgage was located of record — see Title Advisories.

[ADVISORY] OIL & GAS LEASE (LSE 5/210). Oil and gas lease of the mineral estate; scheduled as a surface-use encumbrance. Surface ownership is unaffected.

[ADVISORY] PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAY (ROW 22/140). Right-of-way granting a surface easement across Section 14 for a buried natural-gas transmission line.

[ADVISORY] RIGHT-OF-WAY EASEMENT (ROW 18/55). Pipeline right-of-way granting a 50-foot surface easement across the NW/4 NE/4 for a buried gathering line.

[ADVISORY] ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION EASEMENT (ROW 41/388). Overhead electric transmission and distribution line easement across the NW/4 NE/4.

5. TITLE ADVISORIES

[ADVISORY] SCRIVENER'S ERROR — Warranty Deed (D 84/59), dated 11/18/1945, recited the conveyed tract as "NW/4 NW/4" of Section 14. The granting clause, the grantor's vested interest (acquired in the NW/4 NE/4 by Decree of Distribution, MISC 41/77), and the recorded Affidavit of Scrivener's Error (MISC 201/77, dated 02/14/1958) confirm the intended tract is the NW/4 NE/4, and the interest has been traced accordingly.

[ADVISORY] SPOUSAL JOINDER — Warranty Deed (D 84/59) from Eleanor Dawson Hatch was signed by the grantor alone. New Mexico requires both spouses to join in a conveyance of community real property (NMSA § 40-3-13), and a conveyance by one spouse alone is void. The defect was cured by the curative Quitclaim Deed (D 88/76, 01/24/1958) joining the surviving spouse and heirs. Confirm the marital status of the grantor at execution before reliance.

[ADVISORY] PARTY IDENTITY — The record names "W.F. Dawson" (D 22/114), "W. F. Dawson" (Mortgage MTG 25/88), and "William F. Dawson" (Decree of Distribution MISC 41/77). These have been reconciled as the same individual based on chain position, dates, and instrument recitals.

[ADVISORY] UNRELEASED MORTGAGE — No release of the Mortgage (MTG 25/88, dated 02/14/1912) from W. F. Dawson to Pecos Valley Savings Bank was located of record. Given the age of the instrument the obligation is presumed satisfied and barred by limitations; obtain a release or a curative affidavit before reliance.

[ADVISORY] PROBATE / SURVIVORSHIP — Two interests passed outside of a deed: the Dawson undivided 50% by Decree of Distribution (MISC 41/77) and the Ashby undivided 50% by survivorship of a joint tenancy on the death of R.E. Ashby (Probate MISC 463/5). Confirm the underlying probate orders and recorded evidence of death.

[ADVISORY] ENTITY AUTHORITY — Confirm the trustee in office for the Mulvane Family Trust (Affidavit of Successor Trustee, MISC 705/19) and the general partner authorized to act for Ashby Family Partnership, LP (Affidavit, MISC 612/88) before any conveyance by either entity.

6. GENERAL NOTES

MINERAL ESTATE — A mineral interest was severed from the subject lands by Mineral Deed (D 80/14, dated 08/01/1948) from Whitaker Land & Cattle Company to Redstone Royalty Company. This report addresses the surface estate only; the mineral estate was not independently examined.

PATENT RESERVATIONS — The Patent (P 1/171) conveyed the surface subject to vested and accrued water rights and a reserved right-of-way for ditches and canals constructed under the authority of the United States.

TAX TITLE — The 1936 tax sale of the Dawson undivided 50% interest (Tax Deed, TXD 4/210) was redeemed within the statutory period (Tax Deed / Redemption, TXD 6/55, 1939). The redemption restored title to Eleanor Dawson Hatch and did not break the chain of title.

TENANCY — Current surface ownership is held as a tenancy in common: Mulvane Family Trust (undivided 50%) and Ashby Family Partnership, LP (undivided 50%).

COMPILATION STATEMENT

This Surface Ownership Report was compiled by Archive Ledger, Inc. from a search of the official records of the Eddy County Clerk's Office and the Clerk of the Fifth Judicial District Court for Eddy County, New Mexico, from inception of the records through 12/27/2025. This report was generated by the Archive Title Examination System and reflects the instruments of public record affecting the subject lands as of the record date stated above.

Archive Ledger, Inc.

Archive Title Examination System

Date: 06/28/2026

DISCLAIMER: This report is supplied without warranty, either express or implied. This is not a title opinion and does not constitute legal advice. All ownership determinations and title findings should be independently verified by a licensed title attorney before reliance. This report covers only the surface estate in the subject lands and does not address mineral, leasehold, production, or water interests unless specifically noted.

Common questions

What is a surface ownership report?: A surface ownership report identifies who owns the surface estate of a tract of land and proves it by tracing every recorded instrument affecting that surface — deeds, probates, court decrees, and conveyances — from the original government patent forward to the present owner. It states the current owners, their fractional interests, and the form of co-ownership between them.
Why is surface ownership separate from mineral ownership?: In New Mexico and across most of the western United States, the surface estate and the mineral estate can be severed and owned by different people. A deed that conveys land while reserving the minerals splits the two permanently. From that point forward, the surface and mineral chains diverge and must be traced separately — which is why Archive produces separate surface and mineral reports.
Who uses a surface ownership report?: Operators and their landmen use it before placing a well pad, a road, a pipeline, or a facility, because the surface owner is the party they must negotiate a surface-use agreement with. Land brokers, private-equity groups, and title attorneys use it in diligence, where knowing who must sign is the difference between a deal that closes and one that does not.
How is this different from a title opinion?: An Archive report is a research product compiled from public records. It is not a title opinion, a title commitment, title insurance, or a certified abstract, and it is not legal advice. A title opinion is a lawyer's professional judgment about who owns a tract and what defects encumber it, and only a licensed attorney can render one. Archive assembles and verifies the record on which such a judgment is made — thoroughly, quickly, and at a set price — and expects you to have it reviewed before you rely on it.
What does a real Archive surface report contain?: The delivered package contains a PDF report (the ownership determination, the chain of title, and the analysis behind it), a runsheet spreadsheet listing every instrument affecting the tract, and a compilation of the source PDF of every document relied upon — so that every statement in the report can be checked against the record it came from.
Is the data on this page real?: No. The parties, tracts, and instruments shown on this page are fictional and are used to illustrate the format and depth of a real package. A real Archive report is built from actual recorded county records.

← Back to home