NJ Law on Property Law Liability

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.