Do you know what the purple paint law is?

[Hay Dude]

It isn't fireproof.



Bruce

Neither are signs lol

 

[Hay Dude]

No - I shall not post that. It might be considered political and we shant have that here. Besides - there simply aren't enough trees on my property line to paint ANY color.

I start painting things purple - the men in their white coats will be coming to get me. And even if they didn't - I'd be the laughing stock of our community.

Folks have cut my barbed wire fence to gain access to my property. What makes ANYBODY think that paint, of any color, is going to abate their actions. They have torn down my No Trespassing signs.

Whether it's paint, signs or barbed wire fences - I know and those few folks know - they are trespassing.

Right, so why go through the costly process of fence? Purple paint/signs are not to abate their actions, they are to to give notice. It’s so when they’re caught in person, or caught on camera, the magistrate knows the property owner gave notice.
Barbed wire is a physical barrier. It “gives notice”, physical notice, to humans, cattle, bears, etc. by ripping the skin.

 

[Hay Dude]

I guess that makes sense, even in Washington where "we grow trees like corn" as someone on TBN said, that's mostly on the west side of the state.

Not bad for an “addled brain”, huh?

 

[check]

Consulting a calendar has nothing to do with you using private property owned by others. If your name is not on the deed-- you don't own it-- and you stay off of it unless you have permission. That's a basic as it gets with respect for other people's property.

What does it hurt? First, you are a liability while on their land. If you, or someone with you, gets hit by a falling tree branch or struck by lightning, the land owner is likely to get sued.

Next, your "dog walks" may be noticed by others. Even if you don't invite others to join, once they see you doing it, it encourages them to engage the same behavior. Now suppose a parent with a child is walking their dog, the child looks up just in time to be hit in the eye by a falling branch. The owner gets sued.

So what's the harm in walking across their land even if no accident happens? Simple-- establish a pattern of using that property over five years (in many jurisdictions) and you have just acquired a legal right to the walking trail you have been using. Called a prescriptive easement. Once that is established you have just harmed the owner by devaluing their land since they cannot any longer order you to leave.

A prescriptive easement exists on my land (acquired many decades ago.) It is a constant headache. In the interior of my private property, I have vehicles, dirtbikes with no mufflers, ATV's spinning tires, dogs, dust, you name it. It's my land but I can't legally force them off of the area where the easement exists. It started long ago with people believing there was no harm in taking a shortcut through the property I now own.

Bummer, man. Fortunately, with the switch over here to online registration, etc., prescriptive easements can no longer be established.

 

[Torvy]

I bet most rural Texans know what purple paint means.

Two points: 1) Most Texans are not rural. 2) I would bet most trespassers are not from the area they are trespassing. (my guess is a lot of them are city types who go out to hunt/shoot/cause mischief and don't care about fences, signs or paint)

The beauty of Texas is that you can protect your land if needed. I would still rather have them change the law to make posting unnecessary. I would guess very few landowners would be in favor of people being able to trespass. The current system would be like making a city post 'go lights' at every intersection. Go is the 'default' position. Most intersections are uncontrolled. "No Trespassing" should be the same default position.

 

[dmccarty]

Two points: 1) Most Texans are not rural. 2) I would bet most trespassers are not from the area they are trespassing. (my guess is a lot of them are city types who go out to hunt/shoot/cause mischief and don't care about fences, signs or paint)
...

ALL of the people who have have trespassed our land to hunt, have been locals. When we were looking to buy land, we were talking to a 80-90 year old land owner, when we noticed a guy rabbit hunting on the mans land. He asked me if I would go with him to trespass the guy which I did. The hunter was local and ignored the land owners signs. At least he was respectful when we talked to him.

People driving in are just clueless and ignore the gate, fence and signs. Best one was two morons in a truck, pulling a bass boat, looking for a lake. They were going UP HILL looking for a lake.

I think they were not paying attention when they put in the location of the lake in the GPS...

Later,
Dan

 

[the old grind]

Two kids rode dirt bikes across the road and I assured them that the owner wouldn't like it. Their excuse was that it wasn't posted. Neither is their front yard, but I don't have a bogger truck to try out there.

 

[Torvy]

Two kids rode dirt bikes across the road and I assured them that the owner wouldn't like it. Their excuse was that it wasn't posted. Neither is their front yard, but I don't have a bogger truck to try out there.

There is a very good point in there...I don't have to post 'no trespassing' or paint my curb purple in town...no trespassing is a given. There is simply no reason I can conceive for making rural property owners take the extra steps or risk liability claims. (or worse)

 

[cqaigy2]

We have to post here or it's open. I'm kinda of the, it's not posted so it's open, frame of mind, but i think you should be able to tell a person to leave regardless of it being posted and you can, but law enforcement won't enforce it, unless the place is posted.

 

[Jstpssng]

We have to post here or it's open. I'm kinda of the, it's not posted so it's open, frame of mind, but i think you should be able to tell a person to leave regardless of it being posted and you can, but law enforcement won't enforce it, unless the place is posted

I agree on both points. Although with ATVs here it's different, they are supposed to get permission first. Anything else on unimproved, unposted land isn't trespassing.