Family claims gas driller lied about property value
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The Hallowich family, which settled its lawsuit alleging Marcellus Shale drilling damaged the family's health and property value, has filed a court action claiming Range Resources has violated the confidential settlement.
The family claims that the natural gas driller falsely stated it paid $550,000 for the 10-acre property in Mount Pleasant.
The actual price, according to the emergency petition filed in Washington County Common Pleas Court Monday, was $100.
The petition states that Range Resources intentionally and fraudulently filed a Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value with the state Department of Revenue tax bureau to publicly embarrass Stephanie and Chris Hallowich, inflate the family's tax obligations on the sale of their home and "garner a public relations windfall" by indicating the company had paid more than the full market, appraised value of the property.
"We do believe [Range Resources] breached the confidentiality of the settlement agreement and more importantly they filed a document stating my clients received 'actual cash considerations' for their house of $550,000," said Peter Villari, the Hallowiches' attorney. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
The Hallowiches, who claimed their health and property had been adversely affected by environmental impacts from multiple natural-gas operations near their home, settled a well-publicized lawsuit with well drillers and a compressor-station operator in August. The settlement was sealed by Washington County Common Pleas Judge Paul Pozonsky. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, along with the Washington Observer-Reporter, has undertaken legal action to unseal the settlement, which contains a gag order preventing the Hallowichs from speaking about it.
Mr. Villari, in an email exchange with Range Resources attorney James Swetz at the beginning of November that was included in the filing, asked the company to amend its state Realty Transfer Tax Statement, but the company has not done so.
Mr. Villari said the filing by Range and a subsequent newspaper article reporting it "cast my clients in a poor light as if they had some sort of windfall in this case" and is asking the court to intervene by allowing the Hallowichs to correct the inaccurate reporting to the state Department of Revenue by disclosing the terms of the settlement.
Mr. Swetz, in a Nov. 3 email to Mr. Villari's assistant, said he was willing to discuss the matter, but he added that it was Range's position that the realty tax filing does not constitute a breach of the settlement confidentiality agreement.
Matt Pitzarella, a Range spokesman, said, "We have a legal obligation to accurately record property transactions to ensure we pay the 2-percent tax to the school district, county and Commonwealth. In this case, the consideration paid is approximately the same price the previous owners listed the house on the market just months earlier. Other recent transactions in the area yielded higher prices, but those properties included the gas rights and this did not."
An appraisal paid for by Range indicated the value of the property as approximately $258,000.
First Published November 16, 2011 12:00 am
