The Ins & Outs of Owning Recreational Property

By: Rick Malad, Attorney

Let’s say you acquired some recreational land like I did years ago. You will likely encounter many issues that you did not expect.

Recreational Land Liability

Liability is always or should be a concern. If you use your land for hunting and/or fishing and you invite your friends and family to participate or you are concerned about trespassers, you should know the following;

Indiana Code 34-31-9 Limited Liability Arising from Agritourism Activities. Agritourism is defined, among other things as natural resource-based activities. This includes hunting, fishing, hiking, and trail riding. A provider (owner) is immune from liability for injury to a participant. There are many exceptions, however, such as if the provider charges a fee or knows of some dangerous condition on the land that is not disclosed.

Waiver and Release/ Insurance

Notwithstanding the statute, which is a good one designed to encourage an owner to share his good fortune with his friends and family, the owner should require each participant to sign a waiver and release of liability agreement where the inherent dangers of the activities are acknowledged by the participant. I even include surrounding landowners as releasees since it is always possible for a participant to cross over the boundaries of the owner’s property.

Always purchase insurance on your recreational land and improvements and include liability insurance and medical pay insurance to protect you.

Limited Liability Corporation or Other Entity

You may choose to acquire the recreational land in the name of a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or other legal entity which gives you an extra layer of protection. This is beyond the scope of this piece, but certainly recommended in some situations.

Trespassers

An owner owes very little duty to a true trespasser. The owner cannot willfully or maliciously cause a trespasser harm. The best protection you can have is to make sure you have signs on your property indicating that it is private property and no trespassing, for any purpose, is allowed.

Indiana Code 35-43-2-2 Purple Paint Law. Effective July 1, 2018, Indiana followed several other states to enact the Purple Paint Law. Keeping uninvited people off your land can be a full-time job. The Purple Paint Law allows an owner to use purple paint markings to deny entry to his property, basically informing a person, just like a sign would, that the property is private and no trespassing is allowed. Signs are expensive, labor intensive to install, and difficult to maintain. This statute sets out where you must place the markers, the distance between the markers and the size and height of the purple markers.

Ways to Generate Income

Some owners want to simply enjoy and share the enjoyment of this recreational land. There are ways, however, to generate income.

Farming/Farm Leases

Recreational land assumes that you do not farm your land for profit. If you have some tillable land you may be able to lease it to a local farmer. Those leases should contain information including

1. The term of the lease and extension, if any;
2. Participation, if any, by the owner which could include paying for a portion of the seed and fertilizer cost;
3. Cash rent amount per acre and when it will be paid if no participation by the owner;
4. Any other provision such as exclusivity, release and waiver of liability and lease limitation

Timbering

Conservationists now pretty much agree that selective timbering periodically is healthy for your woods. Hire a well-respected timbering company and, like I have, negotiate a timber management plan that coincides with your wishes and uses for the property. It is a good way to pay for improvements you might want to make on your property.

Hunting Leases

If you are not a hunter you may be able to lease all or a portion of your land to a third party and his guests for hunting and hunting preparation activities. I would not recommend this if you truly want to enjoy your recreational land. I lease land from other landowners for hunting and recreational purposes. Hunting leases are very complex and beyond the scope of this piece.

Tax advantage options and “keeping it as it is”

There are some options to accomplish both of these things at the same time. My goal for the future of my recreational land is to “keep it as it is” while allowing some limited future option. Two programs that I have taken advantage of are:

Classified Forest— Enrolling in the Indiana Classified Forest program is relatively simple, inexpensive and very tax advantageous. Contact the District Forester in your county for an application and procedures. Basically, if you have over 20 contiguous acres and are willing to observe the rules regarding the classified forest program (such as no development, no timbering without an approved timber management plan and no commercial activities) you may enroll all or a part of your land in the programs and obtain a significant property tax reduction.

Conservation Easement — This is a more complicated and restrictive program. Contact an accredited land trust organization. I used Sycamore Land Trust in Bloomington, Indiana, to start the process on my land. A conservation easement, in its simplest terms, is an agreement between the owner and the land trust to prohibit certain activities from ever taking place on the real estate and specifically allowing certain activities to take place. While there are many negotiable activities, the land trust will insist on certain prohibitions such as raising livestock, use as a commercial enterprise, mining, development of any kind and timbering without an approved timber management plan. Certain allowed activities may be specifically allowed such as hunting, fishing, trail construction and management, some farming and food plat cultivation. Some of your land may be excluded if you have some plans to do development like build a home or, in my case, to expand an already improved area of my land. You must have your land surveyed and you will need to pay a monitoring fee for the land trust to walk your property once a year to make sure all the “promises’ in the conservation easement are followed.

Once you have negotiated your written agreement, an appraisal is made to determine the market value of the land involved before the easement and after the easement with its restrictions. The difference between the two values is considered a charitable contribution to a tax-exempt organization. Both are win-win for an owner who wants to “keep it like it is”. Enjoy your recreational land!

Protect Your Family Woodlands or Farm for Future Generations

by: Richard M. Malad, Attorney

You own a piece of land with woods and tillable acreage that you bought because you enjoy the outdoors and everything that goes along with it. After some years it becomes a huge part of your life– an outdoor recreational opportunity that you share with your family and friends.

Do I Need an Attorney for a Real Estate Transaction?

by: Richard M. Malad, Attorney
Typical real estate transactions involve a buyer, a seller, and real estate agents who represent each of the parties involved in the transfer of ownership of the property. Including an attorney in your real estate transaction can help either party ensure that their interests are being protected.
You may be wondering why you would need to hire an attorney. Regardless of whether your transaction is typical or not,. An attorney can provide valuable assistance to make sure your interests are well represented in the transaction. Below are a few facets of the real estate transaction that an attorney can help you with.

Time Is Money: The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Debt Collections

by: Melissa L. Stuart , Attorney
You own a business-and unless that business is debt collection, you would probably like to focus your efforts on, well, your business. When customers or vendors owe you money, there are many ways to go about trying to collect: You could do it yourself, or hire an attorney or debt collection agency to do it for you.
Debt collection is not an easy task. It takes a considerable amount of time, and sometimes creativity, to reach the people who owe you money. If you or one of your staff members is attempting to collect on this debt it can quickly become a full-time job. It also takes a good knowledge of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and state law to effectively and legally collect a debt. If you and your staff are not familiar with these rules, you can put yourself at risk for lawsuits.

How Conservation Easements Protect Our Future

by: Richard M. Malad, Attorney
For those that thought an easement was just something to allow you to drive through someone’s property or to allow utilities to go through your property, listen up! While an easement can do these things it can also do so much more. The basic definition of an easement is a property right that a landowner extends to another for a limited purpose, which could be just about anything.
One creative use of an easement is the preservation of natural resources and wildlife. If you, or a client, have a piece of land that is loved “as-is” and you want to keep it that way for your kids, grandkids, and the animals who call it home, a conservation easement may be something to consider.