Hi, this is Bob writing this
and I want to start with a disclaimer. I am not a lawyer and this is
not legal advice.
You know sometimes you are
asking for permission to search a property and the property owner
suddenly gets cold feet and says “What if somebody gets hurt?”
Well. It turns out the New Jersey has a law that protects the
property owner in just that case, Title 2A- Administration of Civil
and Criminal Justice Section
2A:42A states that property owners can not be held liable if someone
gets injured on their property if they have given permission to
engage in a recreational activity.
First
let’s start with 2A:42A-5.1.
Liberal construction
(https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2013/title-2a/section-2a-42a-5.1/
). This section the law is specifically written to persuade property
owners ”that
might otherwise be reluctant to do so for fear of liability, to
permit persons to come onto their property for sport and recreational
activities.”
So it seems like the lawmakers were looking out for us here.
Next,
The law states the property owner has no duty to keep the premises
safe or even warn you of dangers! So it falls on us, the detectorist
to keep our selves safe. The next paragraph in the law states that
the property owner giving the permission does NOT “assume
responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to person or
property caused by any act of persons to whom the permission is
granted.“
In other words, if you get hurt, even if you fall in a hole that you
weren’t told about, you can not hold the property owner
responsible.
(https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2013/title-2a/section-2a-42a-3/
)
So,
if you are asking permission and the property owner is hesitant, tell
him NJ State law says the you, the detectorist, are solely
responsible for your safety and can not hold the property owner
responsible. It may make a difference and lead to your next bucket
list find.
