Virginia
This may go long, please bear with me.
I own two properties that adjoin back to back to make a 100' wide swath 375' deep. One property fronts a 4 lane highway and has driveways accessing the highway. It has no existing fence. The rear of the property that I occupy is fenced to the property line between the two lots and fronts a regular residential street.
The property that I occupy is bordered on the East side by 3 duplexes. They do not have driveways accessing the 4 lane highway but instead access the residential street at the other end of the property. That particular property backs up to the side of an overpass.
The people who rent the rear-most duplex cut through my other property (on foot) to access the 4 lane highway. I have "No Trespassing" signs up and have asked the trespassers nicely to stop cutting through there as it annoys my tenants and opens me to all kinds of liability. They are also wearing a path through the lawn. When I ask them to stop cutting through, they pay me no mind and continue to cut through. Kids also cut through there on bicycles and on foot. I am very concerned about potential liability should someone trip or fall on the property. The property is not cluttered but does get a bit muddy after a hard rain.
In order to build a fence on that property line, I would have to remove half a dozen big trees and a bunch of shrubbery that are right on the property line. One of the trees are more on the duplex's property than mine.
I don't know if it matters or not but, several of the occupants of the duplexes next door are "section 8" tenants. I mentioned that only in case there are specific laws governing property rented to section 8 tenants.
The Questions:
1: Other than cutting down the trees/shrubbery and building a fence along that property line, what can I do?
2: Can I legally and justifyably (sp?) send a CRRR letter to the property owners asking them to remedy the situation by installing a fence on their property?
3: The police won't help unless they actually see someone trespassing. I have a video camera and could record the trespassers, would that hold up in court?
4: Is taping someone trespassing on my property with a hand-held video camera legal?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
This may go long, please bear with me.
I own two properties that adjoin back to back to make a 100' wide swath 375' deep. One property fronts a 4 lane highway and has driveways accessing the highway. It has no existing fence. The rear of the property that I occupy is fenced to the property line between the two lots and fronts a regular residential street.
The property that I occupy is bordered on the East side by 3 duplexes. They do not have driveways accessing the 4 lane highway but instead access the residential street at the other end of the property. That particular property backs up to the side of an overpass.
The people who rent the rear-most duplex cut through my other property (on foot) to access the 4 lane highway. I have "No Trespassing" signs up and have asked the trespassers nicely to stop cutting through there as it annoys my tenants and opens me to all kinds of liability. They are also wearing a path through the lawn. When I ask them to stop cutting through, they pay me no mind and continue to cut through.
Kids also cut through there on bicycles and on foot. I am very concerned about potential liability should someone trip or fall on the property. The property is not cluttered but does get a bit muddy after a hard rain. In order to build a fence on that property line, I would have to remove half a dozen big trees and a bunch of shrubbery that are right on the property line. One of the trees are more on the duplex's property than mine.
I don't know if it matters or not but, several of the occupants of the duplexes next door are "section 8" tenants. I mentioned that only in case there are specific laws governing property rented to section 8 tenants.
The Questions:
1: Other than cutting down the trees/shrubbery and building a fence along that property line, what can I do?
2: Can I legally and justifyably (sp?) send a CRRR letter to the property owners asking them to remedy the situation by installing a fence on their property?
3: The police won't help unless they actually see someone trespassing. I have a video camera and could record the trespassers, would that hold up in court?
4: Is taping someone trespassing on my property with a hand-held video camera legal?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!