Garden City ? Residents in the Hugoton gas field in southwest Kansas are being warned about depositing what may look like a check from a Fort Worth, Tex., company.

The document, which arrives in the mail, is actually an offer from the company. And Syracuse attorney Wayne Westblade warns that by signing it, owners could be selling all right, title, and interest to all oil and gas interests, plus any property they own in the counties.

Mark Beattie of Cobra Petroleum said his company’s paperwork spoke for itself.

“It specifically states in our letter that this document is an offer to purchase,” Beattie said.

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has determined the document is legal. But spokesman Mark Ohlemeier agreed people should be cautious about the form and seek legal and financial advice.

“It appears on the face to be an extremely poor offer, depending on what the fair price currently is,” Ohlemeier said.

Bernard Nordling, former Hugoton attorney and past executive director of the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Assn., said landowners in the area, where a deal sometimes is still sealed with a handshake, may be misled. Nordling said he had received numerous calls from people in Grant, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny and Stanton counties asking about the Cobra document.

“So many of our people get what appears to be a check in the mail, and they deposit it not realizing they have given away their rights,” Nordling said.

Kearny County Atty. Dennis Jones pointed to several clauses in the Cobra document that concerned him. One clause could give the company all the land someone owns, even if it’s not in the Hugoton field. Another provides Cobra power of attorney.

Hamilton County Atty. Robert Gale said his concern would be for those who might not know they had inherited mineral rights and received a letter from Cobra.

“Receiving an unexpected bank draft for several thousand dollars would seem like you had won the lottery,” Gale said.