Parking on property laws?

Call the police and/or charge them to leave the property.

Call the cops they may issue a citation, trespassing or whatever so there will be documentation so they can be held accountable for any damages they do.

Don’t do anything. If you have them towed, and they’re a bit nuts, you’ll pay 100x over when they get their revenge.

I’m sorry strangers are disrespecting your lawn, but I wouldn’t tow them. You only put you and your family in danger… over grass.

Take pictures immediately, clearly showing cars and property boundaries and license plates. And call the cops as advised by @CunningLinguist and @woodcutter.

Do you have a “no parking” sign posted? If you don’t, I’m not sure there’s much you can do. I suppose you could box them in. Or you could put a note on the car explaining they are on private property and they shouldn’t park there again, or else they will be towed.

Call the police and charge the owner/driver with trespass. Any damage to your yard must be paid by the trespasser but you may have to bring a suit in small claims court to accomplish it. Don’t move and damage the car. This is my personal opinions, not legal advice.

Well….you know ruts are just dirt, and will become un-rutted eventually.
It’s a holiday weekend, and while I am not being unsympathetic or callous to your concerns, I am advocating maybe taking an easy going approach.

Parking is hard to come by and the carnival goers are just trying to have a little fun, does it really need to become a ‘problem’?

Maybe look at it like your neighbors throwing a party with live music and having to contend with a crowd for a night.

Don’t be the bah humbug people.

I attended a local 4th bash in a neighboring community last night, a very affluent community with a private airport, lake and everyones houses have airplanes in the driveway and hangers for garages.

It was packed, took an hour to get out of the neighborhood.

I was impressed with how easy going and happy everyone was.

The homeowners with planes were hanging out in their yards, showing their planes to passerby, kids, the streets were packed, and at one point while we were all stuck in traffic folks in their yards were handing out beer and sodas curbside.

Maybe reframe your attitude to one of ” Hey, I’m glad we had some space to share!”

If it bothers you, call the cops. Let them decide what can be done legally. Now you know next year or next time there’s a carnival, put up cones, or be out there yourself to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Please post an update as to what the outcome is.

JCA
The Update Lady

Get someone to squat on the hood and drop a deuce right there, on the hood,if all else fails, On second thought just do it and see how the cop reacts to it

Not that I am recommending this at all, but if someone is on your property, and something happens to their vehicle, would you be liable if they did not happen to have permission to be there?

Or put a no parking sign there after the fact, it’s their word against yours.

I am wondering why you would even have to put a “No Parking” sign on your own private property. If it’s private property then it’s off limits to all who are not invited.

Call the police and have them towed.

I have read of cases where people got away will illegal parking because there were no signs telling them not to park there, so I suggest you get signs.

@YARNLADY: That would mean anybody could park on anybody’s yard and the defense would be “There were no signs saying I couldn’t.” That makes no sense.

And you could steal my purse if I didn’t have a sign on it saying “Do not steal.”

How’d they get on the backyard property? They drove through the front yard past the house to get there ? Is there an implied right-of-way from an adjacent road/trail ?
Certainly next year post a sign, and stretch some of that plastic alert tape to define their bounds.

@woodcutter Or put a no parking sign there after the fact, it’s their word against yours.

lol @coloma’s “reframe your attitude” speech almost turned my opinion around but then I read that lol

@jaytkay

Haha..well, it’s true! People always getting in a huff over stuff.
Huffy stuffy big and puffy…” don’t park on MY property!” lol

Jeez…my neighbors threw a big bash a few summers ago right before I did, and I put up a sign to warn people parking along my private road to ” Beware of the Poison Oak monster”, a tree size poison oak bush across the road from my house.

I guess I could have just let people park there and get out of their cars and rub their face in the monster, but, I decided to warn them.

I guess it’s the easy going country attitude. ;-)

You don’t need signs unless your property looks like it is a public parking lot. Signs are only legally required when a reasonable person could mistake privately owned land for public property. This is most often the case when privately owned land is adjacent to public property or has been allowed to go wild.

@jca When there are other people parked there, apparently there is no indication it is private property, thus the “I didn’t know” defense.

Edit: This is why people are required to put up “No Hunting” signs on their property.

@Jeruba Its dangerous to make analogies between land and other stuff. There are a lot times the law treats land differently from other things you own.

I suppose that’s so, @roundsquare. I have difficulty with the idea of owning land in any case, although I don’t want people parking on my lawn.

@Coloma Depending where they live that might not be true. My shady grass is fescue, which does not grow in the summer, and does not make babies, the only way to fill it in is to purchase seed or sod, and seed only grows in spring and fall where I live, because it is too hot in the summer. And, I need to water more for the seed. If someone drives over my lawn today, and digs up the grass with their tires, I have to wait three months to fill it in basically.

@JMCSD They can be ticketed or towed for trespassing most likely. People cannot just park on private property without permission. However, if it were me, I would put a sign on the cars, a piece of paper under the windsheild wiper, asking the driver to please take caution not to dig up my lawn when driving out. Hopefully they will accelerate slowly in a low gear.

Next year put a sign in your yard $5 for parking, make some money. Or, a sign saying no parking.

I don’t understand why there are people on this Q who think you can just park on other people’s property? I suggested putting a sign also, but that is not because the owner of the property should have to put a sign, it is because people are inconsiderate of other people’s lawns I guess? Or, of property laws, or don’t think there are laws regarding this? If the land appears to possibly be public land, then it is arguable that the person did not know he was trespassing on private land, but if it is a backyard within close proximity of a house, the driver probably knew.