In July, a paving company, Rieth-Riley was paving a road in Kalkaska County, Michigan. They rolled a parking lot and part 0ne piece of equipment on our farm property (That was clearly posted no trespassing). The company rep told my son he could not move it and offered him $250 to park it for the night. The next morning it was moved, but another Bobcat loader was parked there the next night. They never followed up on providing any information on reconciliation.

OK. so do the math - 2 night at $250 per night ... nope. The company does not answer phone calls in a timely manner and basically said F-Off. So... if you want to go after them for THOUSANDS... go for it. Contact me. All I want is for then to come out and fix the 12 inch deep - 2000 sq. feet of rolled and compacted soil they damages and a written apology.

PM me if you are interested this.

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The area that they rolled/compressed has dead vegetation. The trees show are all black walnut trees. I hope the root structure for the trees are not damaged..

State road? Can you sue the state for damages to your personal property?

No, County Road.

I am more pissed that they never made contact with us. Everyone knows how to track down property owners. Data is available at State, County and Township levels. THey just did what they wanted thinking they would not get caught.

Rude, yes. But you might also find out they have an easement.

No, They do not have an easement. They are outside of all roadway easements. I know our property inside and out. They are way outside - they are trespassing.

Any lawyer taking this on would need to licensed in your state, or have a licensed lawyer in it to file.

It sounds like you live in a rural area, talk to your neighbors and friends to see if they now of a local lawyer. More than likely they are going to tell you to take it to small claims court.

Without any written note wrt allowance/payment, lost cause.
Should of said payment upfront or you'd have it removed, or you'd call local police.
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I think not! Maybe for the use of the property, but the damages is reimbursable.

If it was me, I would send a certified letter to the owner of the company with the pictures, and ask him what they are going to do to make it right. Do not include a $$$ amount and ask nicely. If I didn't get a response, then I would file a small claim court. Unless I felt the damages exceeded $5000 then in Civil court.

Why not wait till spring and see how things grow back? You have plenty of time to go after them. Yes it stinks what they did but so does petty litigation.

Google the company, they are all over your state and have many connections. Litigation may be like tossing mud at a window and expecting to see out of it.

The old school days of a "written apology" are long gone unfortunately.

I do find it ironic you were willing to sacrifice your yard for $250 a night and feel they owe you more then $500 as you want a lot more now.

Cant have it both ways.

Guys,

1. They had no permissions...we came home to find this equipment parked here.

2. I never agreed to a payment of $250, however I used their example with their staff that 1 night of $250 would equal $500 for 2 nights. They don't agree.

3. I demanded they provide soil aeration to the compacted area.

Again, they did this without permission.

I have found that County Road Director and Township officials told them they cannot park on this spot when they did a walk through prior to the job. These folks will be calling them today.

I was going to say, call the local politicians. These guys must be working under contract with penalty stipulations if they don't conform to their requirements.

Best of luck!