Earth Builders, Inc. v. State Ex Rel. State Highway Department

PEDERSON, Justice.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff, Earth Builders, Inc., from a judgment of the district court of Burleigh County quieting the State’s title to sand and gravel on land owned by Kermit Maloney. We reverse.

On March 31, 1976, Maloney executed and delivered to Earth Builders a four-year gravel, rock, sand, and clay lease, with a renewal clause, on land situated in McLean County, North Dakota. Earth Builders did not record the lease until February 20,1981. Maloney, on May 1, 1980, executed and delivered a “material option” to the North Dakota State Highway Department for sand…