Getting Permission.

[Born2Dtect]

When you go metal detecting do you always get permission? I Have always been told it is best to get written permission. However when I read books, articles, and postings I see where some just stop and hunt abandoned schools, churches or buildings. This leaves me to believe that permission was not obtained. Are there places where you consider it public property and detecting without permission is OK? Give me your thoughts.

Ed Donovan

 

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[jeff of pa]

I'll work my way down your list ;? ? ? #1? ? Do I Always Get Permission : NO. alot depends on Site

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? #2? ? ?is the Best Permission Written ? YES, But not the Easiest to get, and sometimes, the reason the property owner will say no. after all, If someone you don't know asks you to sign something, Would You do it ? if so let me know, I'll send you something to sign? there are only 2 ways I will do Written Permission :
A. the Landowner Brings it up
B. the Land owner Brings Up Liability. In which case I tell Him I'd be Willing to Sign a Waver.

#3 your list of places ; It all depends on your Neighborhood & how well You are Known.

? ? ?I hope this Helps

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? JEFF

 

[SASQUASH]

The most reason I get for the owner saying know is that there is nothing to find are you kidding that makes me want to do it all the more. Know I don't allways get permission but my best finds are found with it. SASQUSH<><

 

[mattjd]

If your searching a place that's abandond you don't need permission. Abandond meaning that there aren't any No Treaspasing sign up. But if your going to detect a place that is well kept even if it's not in use you should get permisson. And of course if a place is in use like someones house, then you obviously need permission. Matt

 

[Leon]

I'm glad this subject was brought up again...
How do you go about finding out who owns a piece of land?
I know of an old farm house on the corner of a corn field that has just been torn down.
We stopped by there the other day, and thought great, there's the owner, but it was just someone else dig'n some of the tulips that were coming up. There were no signs posted anywhere, so between us and the other guy that was there dig'n ( doing something he probably wasn't supposed to be doing...), we talked ourselves into scanning over the area. We didn't find much of anything, as we didn't stay too long. I for one was looking over my shoulder for the law more than I was paying attention to detecting.
I know this site has some great potential. There is a big yard where the house stood, there are still three silos in the back, as well as an old well, and I would imagine an outhouse somewhere. there is a side yard with a fire pit, and some horse shoe pits.
Only thing I know to do myself is to knock on doors around the area to see if I can locate someone who knows something.
The house sat on the corner, but there is no mail box, or anything, to find out the address.
Any tips on how to go about this

P.S.> I probably won't be going onto any property without permission, I just don't think it's worth it...

 

[jeff of pa]

Except for the Knocking on the Doors Part, You Naild what I would do. Ask the Closest Neighbors to it when I see them Out. Who Knows, They may give Permission for theirs right away.

I see 3 posabilities of whats going on there. there may be more.
The City Had it Torn Down
A Farmer is going to be Cultivating it
A new owner is going to build on it.

You also mention Silos. Chances are, someone will be back to tear them down, or prepair them for use. every time you can swing by, do so untill you catch someone there.


You could also try the Court House ( Not My Cup of Tea)
Or ; Local Fire Company
Police
closest Bar Room
Post office
or, Gas Station

GOOD LUCK ; jeff

 

[Leon]

Thanks Jeff...
I think it's more than likely that is being torn down for new development. It's sitting just on the edge of town and there are several new business complexes ready to devourer it. I didn't think about the Fire Station, or a few of the others, but I'm with you,,, me and those people downtown just don't see eye to eye. Not sure if the mail man would give any info, or not. Whatever I do,,,I need to do quick, or it could be one of those opportunities that will be lost forever...

 

[jeff of pa]

It may be too late for this one, But The "Legal Notices" in Local Newspapers can also be Helpfull.

? ? ?around Here, Every New Development, Must Be posted In so many Papers For So many Days, So Opposition, has A chance to Speak their Mind.

? ? ? ?These Notices List, Property & Owner, and when known, the Name of the Firm doing the work

Sinse it was a Farm, The Local Feed Mill, may be able to lead you in the right Direction,

YOUR BANK
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
AND OF COURSE
? ? ? ? ANY Local Real? estate Agent worth their Salt, would also know

 

[Born2Dtect]

I agree with Leon, I would be looking over my shoulder all the time. It may be good to check the tresspassing laws to see exactly what is at stake. What would it cost you? It may be worth the risk if the land is not posted? I may try a site that is out of site. A good way of finding a property owner is a property search. For Maryland it is http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/index.asp. I found this site usefull. Finally I guess I will just have to work on my own attitude towards getting permission. Make it more of a fun thing and not such a chore. The huntmaster of my Detecting club does a great job of getting permission to hunt for the group. I think he could sell water to a drowning man.

Keep hunting,
Keep digging,
keep finding!

Ed Donovan

 

[Monty]

I recently searched a site where there was never anyone around and the county had not updated their files yet so there was no one to ask. A nice gentleman about my age approached me and asked me what I was doing. I very politely replied and explained that I was retired and this was how I spent my time and that I was not looking for treasure, just coinshooting, etc. He said he was the property owner and us retired folks had to stick together so go ahead and hunt all I want. I was pleasantly surprised. As a rule I ask permission but with this site I just decided to take a chance and really hoped the owner would come by so I could meet him. As it turns out he owns a real estate investment company and said I could hunt any of his property. Now that I have his phone number I will inform him anytime I hunt his places. He does a lot of tearing down of old houses!

 

[hollowpointred]

wow jimmileo! that could result in a lot of very cool hunting sites.you are a lucky man..in your experiences, how often do people say yes to your requests? around where i live almost every older site has no trespassing signs up and no clear cut way to find the owner. the area is rich in history but many of the sites are state owned or owned by big corporations. I'm not much of a politician, so knocking on strange doors is not an attractive option for me.( but i will if i have to).i sure would like to find an older site or two that i could just search some morning without the hassle! i`ll bet alot of people around here wish the same thing!

 

[red]

If they are going to use the land for development then as soon as there signs go up they will probably also put keep out signs up.

If you can't find an owner or get any info from neighbors and the property is not fenced in and there are no signs up then I would hunt it.

Down here property has to be fenced or posted befor you can get charged for trespassing.

And post painted purple is like a keep out sign also.

Just be ready to do some apologizing if an owner walks up and wants to know what your up to,and letting them know you were told it was to be a used for development.

It all depends on the area.

? ?Red

 

[Screech]

I live in Maine where most land is owned by paper companies. Entrance to their lands are posted with welcome signs associated with a program called "Landshare".

Basically all their land is open to the public. May sound great but areas are vast, we are talking areas the size of some states.

You will not see another person or vehicle your whole day!

Kinda nice place to live!

 

[Born2Dtect]

Screech sounds like gods country to me. I saw something similar in Arizona, where hunting was allowed on large tracks of land no permission needed. Not to sure how it worked, just know the first day of dove season out there the state makes millions off of hunters.

My current efforts to find places to hunt may be paying off. They include passing out personal cards with my name, number, associations, a bit about what I do, an offer to find lost things and Rules of conduct on the back. I give them to all my friends so they know I am looking for places to hunt. Kind of like networking to find a job. The card is intended to legitimize me and gain trust. It is amazing how many people will open up if you get the conversation going. I also going to email cities and schools to try to get permission. I cannot go there during the day as I am forced to work. Ha ha! Will let everyone know the results.

Ed

 

[stoney56]

Jimmileo, that's llike me here. I try and keep track of the properties the city is preparing to condemn and bulldoze or tear down. They don't mind my going on and MDing as they're going to do more damage than I'll ever do-and yes I still fill my holes even knowing the bulldozer is gonnadig 'em up again .

 

[michinkae]

BELIEVE ME! SOME ONE OWNS THAT LAND THAT YOU MIGHT ASSUME IS ABANDONED. THEN WE ALL GET BLAMED FOR YOU THE PEOPLE THAT GO ON THERE WITHOUT PERMISSION. ALWAYS FIND OUT WHO OWNS IT. ALL PRIVATE PROPERTY IS OFF LIMITS AND THEY DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE POSTED. MY FATHER'S CHURCH HAS AN OLD SCHOOL HOUSE ON THE PREMISES. ITS NOT POSTED BUT IT IS STILL PRIVATE. PEOPLE GO THERE ALL THE TIME WITHOUT PEMISSION AND THEY TEAR THE PLACE UP. IT MAKES THE TRUSTEES VERY MAD. ALWAYS FIND THE OWNER, BELIEVE ME THERE IS ONE SOMEWHERE

 

[Vingamel]

Regardless of the legality questions, I just think it shows class to always ask for permission to hunt any private property that you don't own. Do the right thing, and everything falls into place.

 

[stoney56]

Vingamel and machinkae, don't get me wrong. When it gets to the condem and bulldoze stage that the city does, by that time the city is considered the owner of the property. Thus the city can give legal access, at least here anyway.

 

[jbow]

I'm glad this subject was brought up again...
How do you go about finding out who owns a piece of land?
I know of an old farm house on the corner of a corn field that has just been torn down.
We stopped by there the other day, and thought great, there's the owner, but it was just someone else dig'n some of the tulips that were coming up. There were no signs posted anywhere, so between us and the other guy that was there dig'n ( doing something he probably wasn't supposed to be doing...), we talked ourselves into scanning over the area. We didn't find much of anything, as we didn't stay too long. I for one was looking over my shoulder for the law more than I was paying attention to detecting.
I know this site has some great potential. There is a big yard where the house stood, there are still three silos in the back, as well as an old well, and I would imagine an outhouse somewhere. there is a side yard with a fire pit, and some horse shoe pits.
Only thing I know to do myself is to knock on doors around the area to see if I can locate someone who knows something.
The house sat on the corner, but there is no mail box, or anything, to find out the address.
Any tips on how to go about this


P.S.> I probably won't be going onto any property without permission, I just don't think it's worth it...
? ? ? ? ?

... a realtor can tell you who own's any property that you have an address for, in fact you don't need the address they can still do it. Ineeded info on a property that borders three roads. I did not know that at the time and thought it only bordered the main road that I was on when I saw the property. They hunted using the approximate address to no avail. Then they searched by using an online map service. They pulled up the county and I pointed out the area, they zoomed in and I was able to point out the landlot. Then we saw that it was big and bordered the other roads. They were able to use their wizardry and click on the lot and they were able to print out a map of the property for me along with the county record with the owner, the appraised price and the owners purchace price...all kind's of info.

HTH,

Julien

 

[Born2Dtect]

Nice to know. I used a web site that post real property searches for the state of Maryland.

http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/index.asp

It shows the place if you know the road and county. Some places don't have buildings on them or have not been sold for over a hundred years may not be listed. Checked my own house. Wow it is worth that much! A lot of times I search a road and it gives all the addresses so I look for someone I know or may be related to. Its a great way to find places. The info given is owner, address, owners address if different, cost size of property. date of building. Most states should have a property or taxation listing. I think the Real estate agents version is better, so if you can't find it on the web let them take a crack at it.

Ed Donovan