Major homebuilder D.R. Horton has agreed to return mineral rights it retained after selling individual homes and plans to stop the practice for at least the next year.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that Fort Worth, Texas-based D.R. Horton would send letters to about 18,000 homeowners in the state who had the mineral rights below their properties taken by the builder, the Palm Beach Post reported. D.R. Horton has six communities in Palm Beach County. It is not immediately known whether the company retained mineral rights at any of its developments in the county.
After selling a home, the builder would convey the mineral rights to subsidiary DRH Energy. Bondi’s office sent D.R. Horton a letter in November raising concerns over whether buyers had been adequately informed about not getting mineral and groundwater rights when purchasing their properties. The letter claimed the builder had to stop the same practice in North Carolina and give the mineral rights back to the homeowners there. [Palm Beach Post] — Eric Kalis