Nieghbors Taking over Empty Lot Across the Street

As other posts have mentioned, find out who owns the lot. You can do this for free online.

Secondly, do you have an HOA? I am not a huge fan of HOA's because so many try to police the homeowners too heavily and just enjoy having a title, BUT, there are some things about HOA that is good and they could certainly put a stop to that activity.

If the owners put a no trespassing sign on it, the police can step in.

Good luck

I would feel better about them if they actually put in a garden (unless it's pot plants).

Are you sure that the empty lot is not owned by these men or someone they know? You could probably contact the local recorder's office or tax assessment or maybe the clerk's office to find out who owns the property. It is up to the owner of said property to boot the guys off or let them stay. If it is an abandoned lot then I would think the county or city would be responsible.

Not sure why you want to report them if they are being respectful & not hurting anyone or the land and if they are mowing & caring for the lot.

But if you want to - you can look up who owns the lot on your counties tax site & then try to find a phone # for the owner via the phone book. Unless you own the property - I don't think you can charge the guys for anything or call the police on them... unless they are don't something wrong.

There is an empty lot between 2 house I own - the guy that owns it owes a ton of money in back taxes & the city told us if we want to maintain the lot that we have the right to... we do plant a garden on it, mow it, put a fence along the front of it & planted a flower bed infront of the fence. Everyone in the neighborhood was happy to see it taken care of & all the flowers blooming. They are so tired of seening all the empty lots with knee high grass & trash. Plus, I was told by the city - that if the guy that "owns" the property doesn't pay his taxes soon - the city will take the lot for back taxes & sell 1/2 the lot to whom ever owns the house on both side... since I own them both - the lot would become mine for a very small price.

You never know - they may have premition to use the lot. Just as I do... oh btw - I tried for almost 2 years to locate the "owner" of the lot & he REALLY doesn't want found, cause the city & county can't find him either.

Are you sure they don't own the property? If not they are squatters. You would report them to your local government, probably a public response issue. Or, you can find the owners of the property and let them know and let them handle it, which is probably the right thing to do.

Hi- I would think the very first thing to do is go over and talk to them. It may be a case of them not realizing that they sound awful and your kids are right there. Ask yourself what about them you do not like. I mean if it's a wild drunken group who is swearing and disturbing the peace then you have a issue. If it's just some working guys having some fun, a couple of beers and a game of horseshoes then what's the problem? Maybe they are really nice family people who are hanging with the boys after work and aren't aware their foul language is carrying over to your kids. I'm sure we can all relate to the "Men's Circle" at parties and BBQ's talking a little more roughly than the woman's, right? They may just need a friendly reminder. As for the garden, that's a good thing, make friends for some fresh produce ;). Of course, if you reach out in an open and sincere way and they are not responsive, or worse, I would take the next step and contact the property owner. You do have to protect your girls if there is any real indication that they are creeps. Just be sure that you have more evidence than some bad language, beer drinking and a vegetable garden!

They may have purchased or even leased the land from the owner without you knowledge. You can inquire with your city who the land belongs to (it is public record) and inquire with the owner whether or not this is authorized.
Then you can build a high fence around your property or plant some high plants, to keep your kids shielded and safe if you wish to.
You can't change other people's actions, only you own... so do what you feel you must to protect your family.
Good luck!

I would find out who is the property owner (same advice as the other two responders). If they own the property, I'd then look into any laws regarding the use of the property and what can be put on the lot, what kind of activities are legal to take place (are their open container laws, etc).

If you see continued profanity, etc. I would call the police and complain. Otherwise, it may be worth walking over there and asking nicely for them to be considerate of children in the neighborhood with some of their activities.

Hi Diane,

You can go online or down to the courthouse and find out who owns the property. You'll either need a physical address or the Lot and Parcel number. The lot and parcel number will be close to the number of yours so you can find it on a map. This is public information and you have the right to ask for it. When you get it, call the owner (or write him) and tell them about it. If they don't do anything about it, then you can report the owner to the police. Give them a chance to handle it first, but the profanity has to stop. There are little ladies outside!

God bless,

M.

First: Go over, introduce yourself, ask them nicely to quit the profanity. It can never hurt to be neighborly.

Second: They may be trying to gain the land by adverse possession (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession) You need to do an assessors record search to identify the property owner. It's the property owner who needs to deal with removing any squatters.

Third: It can't hurt to call the neighborhood liaison in your police dept. Most depts have an officer assigned to a specific neighborhood so you have a contact to talk to about these kinds of issues. Bring up your observations and see what their suggestions are.

Find out who owns the property and call the police. Flag down a police car the next time you see one and tell them the men are creating a disturbance and using profanity in front of children. Whoever owns the property should post "NO TRESPASSING" signs!

First, find out who owns the lot. County records and or a local real estate person might be able to help you.

Second, get and read a great book 'Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise"
http://www.amazon.com/Neighbor-Law-Fences-Trees-Boundarie...
In some cases, a person who uses land that does not belong to them and maintains it can become the owner of the land.

Third, check with your HOA and or county or town about land use laws.
A garden might be ok, but they might be in trouble if they install a chicken coop and they are not zoned for it.

Once you've gathered information you need to decide:
if you want to inform the owners what's going on their property (in case they don't know about it) in the hopes they will evict these guys. (and there's a chance they DO know about it and have already approved the current arrangement)
or
if you want to make an offer on the property to buy it yourself. If you end up owning it, you can do what ever you want with it.

Good luck!