Neighbor’s barbed wire to keep kids and pets off lawn

[Anonymous]

But if the goal is to PREVENT people from walking on the lawn then why have the barbed wire basically hidden in the ground?

This X100. The guy wants a kid or animal to get hurt. He probably has a video camera pointed at the lawn and is waiting to enjoy seeing some little kid screaming in pain. I would be worried that this guy is mentally disturbed and could possibly escalate. Could the neighbors on either side make up warning signs with arrows that identify that a sociopath lives next door?

[Anonymous]

That's awesome. Keep your kids and pets off his lawn. We had to put a fence because of the neighbors and their kids. Sorry, but I don't want our kids doing laps around my house at 10 PM when mine are sleeping.

[Anonymous]

So not sure if it's technically illegal, but setting any hidden "traps" for tresspassers will subject you to civil liability of a tresspasser is injured. There's a lot of case law on it. There was one really gruesome case in MD several years ago. Some guy with a lot of wooded property got sick of people riding ATVs through his woods. So, he strung up a piece of wire between two trees. All on his property. An ATV rider was decapitated. The property owner was definitely found civilly liable. I can't remember if he faced criminal charges - I think he might have. Basically, even though it's your property, you're not allowed to deliberately hurt people, even tresspassers.

[Anonymous]

So not sure if it's technically illegal, but setting any hidden "traps" for tresspassers will subject you to civil liability of a tresspasser is injured. There's a lot of case law on it. There was one really gruesome case in MD several years ago. Some guy with a lot of wooded property got sick of people riding ATVs through his woods. So, he strung up a piece of wire between two trees. All on his property. An ATV rider was decapitated. The property owner was definitely found civilly liable. I can't remember if he faced criminal charges - I think he might have. Basically, even though it's your property, you're not allowed to deliberately hurt people, even tresspassers.

This. Someone in your neighborhood should find a lawyer to send him an official request to remove this as potential threat to children. In the letter they can spell out potential liability which hopefully will scare the guy. Also keep having neighbors call code enforcement and use the language that he is setting traps and trying to intentionally harm someone.

Also organize to get the HOA to act fast. HOAs can send cease and desist letters to protect themselves against liability even if the action is not explicitly in the by laws but potentially harms the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So not sure if it's technically illegal, but setting any hidden "traps" for tresspassers will subject you to civil liability of a tresspasser is injured. There's a lot of case law on it. There was one really gruesome case in MD several years ago. Some guy with a lot of wooded property got sick of people riding ATVs through his woods. So, he strung up a piece of wire between two trees. All on his property. An ATV rider was decapitated. The property owner was definitely found civilly liable. I can't remember if he faced criminal charges - I think he might have. Basically, even though it's your property, you're not allowed to deliberately hurt people, even tresspassers.

This. Someone in your neighborhood should find a lawyer to send him an official request to remove this as potential threat to children. In the letter they can spell out potential liability which hopefully will scare the guy. Also keep having neighbors call code enforcement and use the language that he is setting traps and trying to intentionally harm someone.

Also organize to get the HOA to act fast. HOAs can send cease and desist letters to protect themselves against liability even if the action is not explicitly in the by laws but potentially harms the community.

The PP is right here. There are many classic torts cases about this issue. Beyond even the unlawful trespassers, what happens if the police or fire department have to come? What if the mail carrier walks over the grass? And of course, the injuries from barbed wire are hardly commensurate with whatever injury the guy suffers with having people walk on his grass. The neighbor who does this is a moron and/or sociopath, and someone needs to put a stop to it.

[Anonymous]

It’s obviously legal and apparently doesn’t conflict with the hoa rules. It is also a ridiculous source of potential liability. I’m sure his homeowner’s insurance would not be impressed with his ingenuity.

[Anonymous]

First OP said the barbed wire was "embedded" and the said it was "roped." Which one? If roped, it can be seen during the day. Don't see a problem with that. Could he put up some small fencing to warn people, or is that against HOA rules?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another reason why so many town home communities have HOA rules.

OP says there is an HOA. Apparently they forgot to ban embedded barbed wire.

But antisocial neighbor is going to get screwed next spring when he realizes you can't mow over barbed wire and gets 7 tickets a week for having his grass too tall.

[Anonymous]

This is the price you pay for choosing to live in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Is this in South Riding?

[Anonymous]

This guy is genius. People really do need to be responsible for their kids and dogs. The guy should probably have some signage but anyone who enters his properry regardless of age should enter at their own risk. The government should not really be telling people what to do on theornown peppery unless the behavior interferes with another person's rights. Indont see how his hidden barbed wire impacts anyone else.

[Anonymous]

The guy should plant a row of Happy Days bush roses around the perimeter of his lawn. They grow fast, they're very hardy, and they're pretty. They also have small thorns, which will help to deter trespassers.

Roses would look much prettier than barbed wire and would have the same general effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This guy is genius. People really do need to be responsible for their kids and dogs. The guy should probably have some signage but anyone who enters his properry regardless of age should enter at their own risk. The government should not really be telling people what to do on theornown peppery unless the behavior interferes with another person's rights. Indont see how his hidden barbed wire impacts anyone else.

Do you have kids?

[Anonymous]

I’d worry that the barbed wire is a hint of other crazy shit this guy does. Hopefully he doesn’t have a bomb-making lab in his basement. Guessing he probably owns an Arsenal too. Scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So not sure if it's technically illegal, but setting any hidden "traps" for tresspassers will subject you to civil liability of a tresspasser is injured. There's a lot of case law on it. There was one really gruesome case in MD several years ago. Some guy with a lot of wooded property got sick of people riding ATVs through his woods. So, he strung up a piece of wire between two trees. All on his property. An ATV rider was decapitated. The property owner was definitely found civilly liable. I can't remember if he faced criminal charges - I think he might have. Basically, even though it's your property, you're not allowed to deliberately hurt people, even tresspassers.

This. Someone in your neighborhood should find a lawyer to send him an official request to remove this as potential threat to children. In the letter they can spell out potential liability which hopefully will scare the guy. Also keep having neighbors call code enforcement and use the language that he is setting traps and trying to intentionally harm someone.

Also organize to get the HOA to act fast. HOAs can send cease and desist letters to protect themselves against liability even if the action is not explicitly in the by laws but potentially harms the community.

The PP is right here. There are many classic torts cases about this issue. Beyond even the unlawful trespassers, what happens if the police or fire department have to come? What if the mail carrier walks over the grass? And of course, the injuries from barbed wire are hardly commensurate with whatever injury the guy suffers with having people walk on his grass. The neighbor who does this is a moron and/or sociopath, and someone needs to put a stop to it.

Im sort of looking forward to the news story about how this ahole is getting sued by the ups delivery guy because he got slashed trying to deliver this guy’s packages.