Hypothetical Scenario #1

I own a 10-acre parcel of land in a nearby town. On some occasions, I have rented the land to charities and other businesses for car and boat shows, festivals, art shows, etc. I was contacted about 6 months ago and asked if I would consider renting the land for about a week to a traveling circus. As usual, I was amenable to the idea with a couple of normal stipulations such as proof of insurance and payment in advance of the rent. No decisions were reached at that time and I never heard from them again. I got a call last week from the adjacent property owner complaining about the circus people leaving a mess on my property when they packed up and left. Apparently, they just showed up, set up and held a circus on my land for four days and left. By the time I got to the property, the entire place was all cleaned up. So . . . . what was the crime?? Am I entitled to compensation? Who do I file a complaint with?

The law suit potential is a real concern. How do yo know something horrible did not happen during there stay and you just did not get the paper work yet. I think the damages could be the total sum of gross sales. If they conduct business in other states you could get triple damages. I would run it by a lawyer just in case. Here's my lawyer. He said he would take the case funnybona

Thanks Woody. I was shooting from the hip. ;)

I've only dealt with small claims in two states (Oregon and Utah). In both those states, they require it be filed in the county the defendant resides regardless where the incident occurred.

Are you sure Woody. Crime scenes/criminal cases are tried where the incident occurred. Just the filing would 'show' an incident was believed to have happened. Documentation would back up that claim. Seems that would be a step towards mitigating any potential damages, and may nip it in the bud. Just an opinion. Courts don't follow common sense rules, you know. Ask Jet.

You'd probably be dealing in small claims court filed wherever the circus is based. You need to show some kind of damage that you incurred or you will get nowhere in his hometown court. It would involve travel and expenses. It'd only be worthwhile if you really hate clowns. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything. They've learned of a good free spot for next year. Watch for them and catch them there and YOU have the advantage.

The money isn't my primary concern. Proving they were there isn't even a concern. The question is, what if any crime was committed? For sure trespassing.

Now, if you found out that an elderly woman fell and broke her hip on my property while attending the circus and they didn't have any insurance, does that change anything?

If they owners/operators of the circus were charged with some kind of crime, it will help tremendously mitigating my liability by proving that I was a victim of the same scumbags.

It's not criminal, but you could file a civil suit. Find anybody that went and took pics. Make copies, take statments, etc, and you could get a judgement. Limited of course by the civil court limits in your area. They trepassed and profited. You could ask for 10% of receipts. Maybe that neighbor will testify. Might have pics. I bet somebody knows something. :ohmy:

Sounds like an excersise in futility to me. They used it, cleaned up and took off. Job done.

Just curious why this is hypothetical. Was there a circus or not?

Sounds like you could sue them for whatever you can show is the normal rent for 4 days. You should be able to prove that by your previous contracts. Then you would have to prove they actually were there for that amount of time. You could hire a lawyer, private detective or both and they might find out who to go after. I know you feel "used" because this reminds me of when i looked in a homeowners mailbox once and found an exact duplicate of my proposal form ( which i created myself from scratch but did not copywrite) The other company had taken out our letter head and inserted theirs was the only difference. I know the two situations are different but im betting we both feel about the same way about it. A little disturbed. lol Probably not worth your time, effort or risking a substantial amount of money that you could possibly never recover.