Trespasser.....what would you do?

[TheMan419]

If you do not go to a property often, why not lease it out for hunting. The guys paying for the lease will run the others off for you and generally will take care of the property.

You then have different liability issues depending on state law. In indiana if you are on my property without permission (posted or not) I have zero liability if you are injured. If you are a guest I have liability if I knew of the danger. If you are a customer I have an even higher duty to care for you.

My insurance man said if I let a friend hunt my homeowners policy covers me. If I am charging to hint I need a commercial policy.

 

[TheMan419]

We must have finally educated all the northeasterners to our laws out here. Like it or not - that's the way it is around here.

Once again the mighty Mississippi is a great dividing point ............

BTW - looks like the Patriots have a good chance of winning this Sunday. The Seahawks - I'm not holding my breath.

Have a good weekend Jstpssng. I like the way we can discuss varying points.

its east of the Mississippi. Indiana you are trespassing if you enter my property without permission. Posted or not.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

This video to me is funny, a trespassing hunter. Caution: fowl language:

I'm 100% in favor of private property rights, and for people to stay off any land that is posted.

However, something like what is shown in that video is asking for trouble. You're probably going to jail for setting booby traps.

I wonder if the property owner filmed the retribution, where the guy came back and burned his barn down, or set fire to his woods?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Looks like both the trespasser AND the land owner were charged.

Both would have their charges dropped after 6 months of being a "good boy".

Booby traps may seem "funny" on the internet. But there are laws against it.

Booby Trap Blasts Paint All Over Trespassing Hunter

 

[Larry Caldwell]

May you never experience a lawsuit…

Somewhere in TBN past there was a case about easement encroachment.
(It may have been pulled for legal reasons)

The issue went back and forth, a court case then snaked through the legal system and the op lost. In the process of losing time, experiencing prolonged stress, legal bills all ending in what I recall was the loss of the property due to court financial judgement.

In another matter a widow sold the family farmhouse to a jeweler who lived in town. The shrewd businessman then sued her - stated she misrepresented the home's condition. Five years later the widow won the court case, but she had to pay 5 years of legal bills first. She died of heart failure 3 years later.

Paraphrasing War Games - Sometimes the best choice is - not to play.

Do you guys not buy insurance? In my state, title insurance is a legal requirement for all realtor sales. Occasionally there will be a handshake sale, but I lived next door to an easement dispute when the easement was not recorded on the deed. The title insurance company paid everybody. They paid all legal expenses. They paid compensation to the land owner, for both the use of the property and relocation of a fence line that ran down the middle of the easement. Easement disputes and clouded titles are what title insurance is for.

An umbrella policy is there for one reason - to protect you from lawsuits. My umbrella policy will defend any lawsuit and/or pay any judgment or claim. The only thing I'm scared of is starting a forest fire that burns thousands of acres and homes, which would far exceed the policy limit and wipe me out. Homeowner's insurance protects me at home, the umbrella policy protects me everywhere.

If you are paranoid about lawsuits, talk to your insurance agent. Don't let it cripple your life.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My employer manages 800,000 acres in this state. I'm in charge of about 50k of those. Most of that is open to use by the public in varying degrees.
I see the good and the bad, probably more than most here. Some do have the attitude they are going to do as they please. In that case a phone call to the local game warden, or to the Forest Service if it's a matter of dumping, is all that I need to do.

I talk to a lot of people over the course of a year. They want to pick up firewood after a harvest job ends, and appreciate not needing to buy it. Our only restrictions are that the job has to be done with all of the salable wood hauled; and we don't allow chainsaws.
I often hear how much people appreciate being able to use the land. Some people have been coming up to go deer hunting for over 40 years. Back then the hunting was great; now, not so much. Yet they still come up for a week. A father might take a ride out after work for a couple of hours with his two sons, trying to "pick up a bird" (Ruffed grouse). I think it's good for them to be able to do that.

There are a lot more of the latter category than the first, and I enjoy seeing people out doing things. If we didn't allow access, the only people I would see fall in the first category and I would likely share the attitude a lot of the posters here.

Our Forestry and Wildlife departments understand that most hunting activity in particular is done on private lands, and are working hard to ensure that access continues. Every year they sponsor a "fall cleanup day", where volunteers clean up what others have dumped over the past year. They also are very good about dealing with dumping and other problems, and if possible will find the owner, make him clean it up and issue a summons.

There's a push to turn the 3.2 million acres which have created jobs for centuries and turn in into a "National Park" putting me and thousands of others out of work. It also would virtually eliminate hunting in most of the state. Many don't understand (or care) that they would be destroying the very thing which makes the region unique; the interaction between public use on privately owned land.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I think it's just Vermont and Maine that have open lands unless posted.

Then there is the exception of sates with coastlines, not just oceans, but the great lakes, too. In those states, you have to let people pass along the coast. I think it's delineated by the high water mark or something similar.

Vast areas of the American West are still open range. If you don't want your neighbor's cattle grazing your land, put up a fence. Human foot traffic is so trivial it would be treated like a joke if someone objected. How would they round up their cattle?

 

[Jstpssng]

View attachment 721637

We see similar signs here. I've been putting up various signs including "No Dumping" and "No Motor Vehicles"... all supplied by the Forest Service or Fish and Wildlife.

It isn't perfect but as I said before, if we didn't allow access the only people I deal with would be those who don't care.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Looks like both the trespasser AND the land owner were charged.

Both would have their charges dropped after 6 months of being a "good boy".

Booby traps may seem "funny" on the internet. But there are laws against it.

Booby Trap Blasts Paint All Over Trespassing Hunter

The guy should have asked permission to walk through, then no problem. No one should tresspass like like.

 

[plowhog]

In my state, title insurance is a legal requirement for all realtor sales. ...

My umbrella policy will defend any lawsuit and/or pay any judgment or claim.

Not sure about Oregon, but my experience in other states is that it is the lender who requires title insurance, not a real estate broker.

I've worked with some shrewd investors who buy small land parcels and *always* bypass purchasing title insurance since it is an expensive fee. They can do this by paying cash. They accept a heightened risk, but I have not seen any of them get burned. I/they have the skills to read the available title documents and easement paperwork as well as the title officer can. Even if you get insurance, many title policies have exclusions for "undiscovered" things-- typically they only like to insure what they know about.

To the contrary, I did witness a commercial investor who learned his building had been earlier expanded without a permit. Although he had title insurance, his claim was denied because he had not purchased the "upgraded" policy, only the standard one.

I will differ about an umbrella policy removing any or even most concern should you be sued. Even if fully covered for the financial expense, being involved in a lawsuit is an emotional roller coaster and can be very, very stressful. I've been through it. I could deal with the heightened risk and stress, but others in the family had a very difficult time with it. That stress caused repercussions which last to this day (and we were the "winners", if you can call it that.) Our real estate lawsuit was not covered by my umbrella policy. Even if it was, the emotional side of it was a total bear.