Tanner Companies V. Arizona State Land Department

Lease M-908 was orally assigned by Tanner to Clinton Campbell Contractor, Inc. (Phoenix Brick), Tanner agreeing to renew the lease when it expired and reassign it to Phoenix Brick. Prior to the expiration of its lease, Tanner filed a renewal application with the land department, and made advance rental and royalty payments which were accepted by the department. Campbell also filed an application for the renewal of lease M-1022 prior to the time of its expiration. The renewal applications for leases M-1456 and M-1457 were not made until August 1981, after the filing of the appeal in this case. The land department agreed to wait for the outcome of this case before acting on their renewal. Lease M-908 had been scheduled to expire on July 18, 1978, but prior to the expiration of the lease, Tanner received a renewed lease M-908 for a term expiring July 18, 1998. It executed the renewed lease and submitted it to the land department, but it was never signed by the state land commissioner.