help on locating land a owner

captain Jack

Sr. Member
Sep 26, 2006
391
6
Richmond, Va
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250
If you see a piece of land you'd like to hunt, but there's no house on it, and no address, how do you locate who owns it? I found a piece of land with 2 cannons on it and an old abandoned brick house that nature has reduced to a shell. I know it's not park, but it IS fenced off with a short wooden fence and there is no even slightly inconspicuous place to park so just hitting it without permission is totally out of the question. Plus it's a bit of a ritzy neighborhood (at least the homeowners there think it is) and I know someone will want to ask questions and have them answered by the police. any suggestions?

also, this may sound like a funny question, but has anyone noticed a trend or difference in frequency of granted permission when asking blue collar people vs. !0,000 sq ft house owners if you can hunt their land? Those big houses are intimidating but they sit right on an old arsenal.
 

An abandoned house (or no house) and a short little wooden fence that you can just step over. Why do you think the rizty neighbors would care less? You're just weed-wacking or looking for a water-line, right? Ok, well I don't usually tell this to too many people, but here goes: I OWN that property, and you have my permission to detect. Just keep a low profile, be discreet, don't stick out, and my neighbor's won't care. Have fun!
 

Contact the City or County Clerk's office, They should be able to guide you in the right direction.

Be carefull detecting on others property, I also would ask the people next door if they can get you in contact with the land owner,

You said it has 2 cannon's there kinda interesting, Good luck
 

HA, so to keep a low profile I guess I just park at home and walk to 5 miles to the site. (not that I'm afraid of a hike!) Or I could just have someone drop me off and pick me up....hmmm. Since I joined I have very much tried to adhere to the ethics code. I don't wanna sound like a square or something but my grandfather always said "if you're gonna do something, do it right." I don't know about CA, but in VA, people tend to know who their neighbors are. you know? What do some other members think?

No offense Tom, I appreciate the POV. Hey! you wanna send me a signed permission slip? :)
 

ronald99 said:
Contact the City or County Clerk's office, They should be able to guide you in the right direction.

Be carefull detecting on others property, I also would ask the people next door if they can get you in contact with the land owner,

You said it has 2 cannon's there kinda interesting, Good luck

The cannons are next to the road facing away from the road and directly onto the land. The area was an arsenal during the CW. I don't wanna give away the spot (never know who's watching) But the road is named after the cannons. They're no mystery. But the land and house are very over-grown and I don't think anyone has been there in a long time. I'm kind of a pus when it comes to just waltzing up with that metal detector anywhere, I feel like I am doing something wrong...Don't know why, this has been the single biggest thing for me to overcome in MDing.
 

ronald99 had the right course. The library should also have plat books with owners names or the clerk of courts will have the tax papers . I wouldnt just detect it with out permission ...but thats me. I would go to the neighbors also and just ask. As long as you are polite and presentable, just tell them you are doing historical research of the area and you would like to detect the property but need the property owners names so you could question them on the history as well as obtain permission to hunt. I never have a problem getting permission ,but I bake everyone a pie first....hahahahaha
 

gypsyheart said:
ronald99 had the right course. The library should also have plat books with owners names or the clerk of courts will have the tax papers . I wouldnt just detect it with out permission ...but thats me. I would go to the neighbors also and just ask. As long as you are polite and presentable, just tell them you are doing historical research of the area and you would like to detect the property but need the property owners names so you could question them on the history as well as obtain permission to hunt. I never have a problem getting permission ,but I bake everyone a pie first....hahahahaha

Well, being better looking doesn't hurt either gypsy! :)
 

captain Jack said:
gypsyheart said:
ronald99 had the right course. The library should also have plat books with owners names or the clerk of courts will have the tax papers . I wouldnt just detect it with out permission ...but thats me. I would go to the neighbors also and just ask. As long as you are polite and presentable, just tell them you are doing historical research of the area and you would like to detect the property but need the property owners names so you could question them on the history as well as obtain permission to hunt. I never have a problem getting permission ,but I bake everyone a pie first....hahahahaha

Well, being better looking doesn't hurt either gypsy! :)
You said it!! if we could get gypsy or the other ladies on here to ask permission for us we would not be able to hunt all the sites we would have!!!!!
 

Go to the town clerk's office, or county recorder's office. If you have the addresses, stop at the tax assessor's office, and give it to them, they should be able to tell you the plat and lot, and the owner's name and mailing address (if out of town - it's where the tax bill goes).

Or, ask the clerk to help you... they'll show you the maps, and point out the plat and lot. You can then ask them who owns it or look it up yourself.

Just be nice and ask the people in the offices... they are usually pretty happy to help you out

steve
 

OK I admit sometimes I cheat and have my 14 yo daughter who'se very pleasing to the eye ask for permission to detect and she's never been turned down. I save her though for only the hardest locations to ask myself. I KNOW i'm off topic sort of but I just had to fess up for something I find quite childish about myself. Anyhoo, Capt. Jack before you do anything try googling the county name and state. alot of places have tax info available online. Like my county has an online GIS service that is really nice lets me see a overhead arial photograph of area that's zoomable and has property lines overlaid with all kinds of info including taxpayers name and address.
 

My two cents.

I live in Brevard County, Florida. If I want to find out who owns a piece of property, I go to the county property apraisers web site. There is a link to a map system that you can zoom in on various lots and it will tell you the registered owner information.

http://www.brevardpropertyappraiser.com/scripts/esrimap.dll?name=Brevard1&cmd=map&id=20070622

You can then access the associated file for the information:

http://www.brevardpropertyappraiser...&leg=T&GoWhere=real_search.asp&SearchBy=Owner

You may have such a system in your area. Try typing in the name of your county and the words " map search".

Good luck. Hope the above links work for you to give you a hands on idea of what I am talking about.

Ray S.
 

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