What is the name of your state? Georgia
Property owned by myself and elderly parents is leased to a hunting club from Tampa, Fla. I live in Texas. My parents live in Georgia, some thirty miles from the property. The property is clearly posted with No Trespassing signs. There is one gate which has a chain and lock put on it by the club leasing the land.
Recently, the land behind our property was purchased by a man from Miami, Fla. This man has begun making frequent trips to this property for the purposes of hunting. He does not use the land for farming. He does not have a residence on the property. He had no prior agreements with my family or the hunting club for any easement rights to get to his property.
Twice, this man has cut the lock and chain off the gate to cut across our land to get to his. He was stopped by the hunting club and told to call my parents as he was trespassing and in danger of getting himself accidently hurt as the land was actively being hunted on. The county sheriff was notified and caught up with the man at the behest of both the hunting club and my parents because he refused to call or notify anyone when he was coming or going. The man stated to the sheriff that perhaps he had been wrong not to call my family but we had a perfectly good road and he considered it his right to use it to get to his property. There are other ways to access his land but they are not as well maintained and might cost him money to repair.
Since the warning, my parents have filed a case against this man. The county court's representative had a list in his hand when my parents arrived. The list contained all the options the trespasser was now willing to concede to. Obviously the trespasser had called ahead of time and it took an hour of harassment before my parents were allowed to file. The representative of the hunting club that accompanied my parents to the court house was astonished at the court reps. behavior. He said he had never seen anyone, who supposedly in no way connected with the disagreement, take such a biased stance. The court rep. even told my parents they would probably lose and why were they insisting on making a court case when they could just let this other man come and go as he wanted.
Something underhanded and illegal stinks in the county's judicial system. Even the mayor of the town has twice been convicted of using Escrow funds to pay his personal bills.
Our land has been in our family for several generations. We have derived income from the land by way of leasing hunting rights to the same club for years now. The trespasser has endangered himself and others with his reckless disregard of the law. He has put in jepardy our leasing agreements and will possibly devalue our property if he wins easement rights.
We have been told by the lawyer my parent's hired that our case lies in a 'gray area.' I don't see how this can be so but that is why I'm posting. Is there no legal precident to stop this person? Can we make the trespasser fortify his existing entrances to his road so he won't be tempted to use ours?So far I have found no law that allows this man to do what he already has and what he proposes are his rights to continue cutting locks and entering at his leisure. My family has even considered tearing up the end of our dirt road that leads to his land. We have paid over the years to keep our property in tip top shape for the express purpose of leasing hunting right but if that leasing is in question then why should we have to keep the road fit for anyone to drive on?
Unless the county judicial system has been compromised by $$ influence, I am at a loss to understand why we are in a 'gray' area of the law.
Property owned by myself and elderly parents is leased to a hunting club from Tampa, Fla. I live in Texas. My parents live in Georgia, some thirty miles from the property. The property is clearly posted with No Trespassing signs. There is one gate which has a chain and lock put on it by the club leasing the land.
Recently, the land behind our property was purchased by a man from Miami, Fla. This man has begun making frequent trips to this property for the purposes of hunting. He does not use the land for farming. He does not have a residence on the property. He had no prior agreements with my family or the hunting club for any easement rights to get to his property.
Twice, this man has cut the lock and chain off the gate to cut across our land to get to his. He was stopped by the hunting club and told to call my parents as he was trespassing and in danger of getting himself accidently hurt as the land was actively being hunted on. The county sheriff was notified and caught up with the man at the behest of both the hunting club and my parents because he refused to call or notify anyone when he was coming or going. The man stated to the sheriff that perhaps he had been wrong not to call my family but we had a perfectly good road and he considered it his right to use it to get to his property. There are other ways to access his land but they are not as well maintained and might cost him money to repair.
Since the warning, my parents have filed a case against this man. The county court's representative had a list in his hand when my parents arrived. The list contained all the options the trespasser was now willing to concede to. Obviously the trespasser had called ahead of time and it took an hour of harassment before my parents were allowed to file. The representative of the hunting club that accompanied my parents to the court house was astonished at the court reps. behavior. He said he had never seen anyone, who supposedly in no way connected with the disagreement, take such a biased stance. The court rep. even told my parents they would probably lose and why were they insisting on making a court case when they could just let this other man come and go as he wanted.
Something underhanded and illegal stinks in the county's judicial system. Even the mayor of the town has twice been convicted of using Escrow funds to pay his personal bills.
Our land has been in our family for several generations. We have derived income from the land by way of leasing hunting rights to the same club for years now. The trespasser has endangered himself and others with his reckless disregard of the law. He has put in jepardy our leasing agreements and will possibly devalue our property if he wins easement rights.
We have been told by the lawyer my parent's hired that our case lies in a 'gray area.' I don't see how this can be so but that is why I'm posting. Is there no legal precident to stop this person? Can we make the trespasser fortify his existing entrances to his road so he won't be tempted to use ours?So far I have found no law that allows this man to do what he already has and what he proposes are his rights to continue cutting locks and entering at his leisure. My family has even considered tearing up the end of our dirt road that leads to his land. We have paid over the years to keep our property in tip top shape for the express purpose of leasing hunting right but if that leasing is in question then why should we have to keep the road fit for anyone to drive on?
Unless the county judicial system has been compromised by $$ influence, I am at a loss to understand why we are in a 'gray' area of the law.