Permissions to MD from Commercial Companies?

[lumbergh]

Hi Guys,

I'm pretty new to this but have identified a few sites that are interesting targets for MD'ing, but according to government records, they are all owned by a commercial (land ownership) company.

They are undeveloped right now, but I have reason to believe based on old maps that the land once contained the homestead of a family who lived there from the 1870's or earlier.

Has anyone had any luck obtaining permission to MD from one of these companies? Or is it a complete waste of time?

If you did, please share how you asked and what your permission document looked like (i.e. hold harmless statement?).

Thanks,
- Bill

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Hi Guys,

I'm pretty new to this but have identified a few sites that are interesting targets for MD'ing, but according to government records, they are all owned by a commercial (land ownership) company.

They are undeveloped right now, but I have reason to believe based on old maps that the land once contained the homestead of a family who lived there from the 1870's or earlier.

Has anyone had any luck obtaining permission to MD from one of these companies? Or is it a complete waste of time?

If you did, please share how you asked and what your permission document looked like (i.e. hold harmless statement?).

Thanks,
- Bill

I know there are various "contracts" and pre-fab "permission slips" that float around on the net (fill-in-the-blank style agreements). But my experience with such type things (whether for "commercial" or private homes/yards), is they are the FASTEST way to get a "no". I mean .... think of it: what would YOU do if a total stranger came to your business or door-step with a contract for you to sign. eh? It only conjurs up images of legal consequence, hoops, danger, threat, etc... (lest why else would you need a contract, if it were innocuous and harmless?).

Thus the only time to start talking about contracts and hold-harmless things and insurance, is if THEY ask for it or bring it up. Otherwise, verbal and a handshake is good enough.

But back to the original question, all I can say is .... good luck. You're not likely to find many "yes's" with big nameless faceless bank and/or coorporations in distant cities or states. I mean, sure, you can try, but no doubt your Q will get lost in a maze of bureaucracy. And you can guess what the easy answer is going to be (why should they be bothered?)

is this rural? urban lots? etc...

 

[lumbergh]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. It's a local company so I thought about stopping into their office, but I'm still not sure how to "approach" them. I was thinking I needed some sort of written permission since it's on "no trespassing" land.

What's been everyone's experience with getting permission?

Thanks for your responses!
- Bill

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Ah, a "local company", eh? Much better than a nameless faceless out-of-state or out-of-city type bank or corporation. Because now the odds of talking to an actual owner or decision maker are much increased.

I've found that when going to any businesses or homes (or demolition sites or whatever), you want to psychologically "make a connection" with your target. ANYTHING that hints at some sort of kin-ship, or connection, or "reason", etc.... Even something like "hey I was talking to your neighbor down the road, and he says there used to be a picnic site on your acreage over in that canyon", blah blah Or "I'm a docent at such & such museum, and am currently doing research for an article I'm writing on this block of houses", blah blah blah.

Salesmen are trained in this type of technique to find the remotest of "in's" (like "hey, I have same kind of roses at my house", or "wow, what a beautiful dog, what breed is that?", etc...). I know, it can get cheesy cheap if you're just doing dry cheezy lines. So it has to be somewhat genuine. And since you're a genuine history buff, and you do (afterall) do "research", you can always find a way to morph something into the "ice-breaker" lines.


Are you in any sort of local historical society? If not, join up, and do whatever volunteer docent work you can. This will give you a lot of credibility when you show up some place (like the local business here in this post), and you're "you're a such such society member doing research on the 1870's building that used to be on such & such site, blah blah blah"

 

[scotty544]

Good info. Tom.

 

[Ism]

Don't ask a receptionist, talk to the owner or CEO face to face, a letter won't be answered or you will certainly get a NO response.
I have gotten permission this way. I get to the point, I don't try to engratiate myself to them. They are a busy sort and time is money.
I'm not good at the gift of gab so others might take a different approach. I confirm that they own the site and tell them I live in the neighborhood and enjoy the hobby of metal detecting.
Would they grant me permission to hunt the site. Worst that can happen is they say no.

If they say no, curse them and kick over a chair or planter on your way out. (J/K)