Great Lakes Metal Detecting metal detecting, Michigan, Great Lakes, treasure, relic hunting, detector, gold, silver, rings, coins, forum • How to get permission to detect

2012 Leaders in finds
timholliday Gold Rings = 6 timholliday Silver Rings = 28 timholliday Silver Coins = 170 jimars98 Wheaties = 584 jimars98 Clad = 262.79

How to get permission to detect(examples of permission letters)?

Getting Permission: Liability Waiver; Search & Salvage Agreement:

Here is a typical example of this question asked.

"How to get permission to detect on private property?
Can you provide me an example of a "Permission Letter"? Should I include a "Liability Waiver"? What about a "Search & Salvage Agreement"?

Thanks,
Inquirer"

Answer from Joe C.: ""This Is The Year"----that's what you need to tell yourself. This is the year I will break the ice and go ask permission to detect that old farmhouse/old peice of property I saw."

Answer from Webmaster: "Good question, I personally haven't tried asking for permission that much but others have done real well with this technique."
To answer your question, all I can do is provide you with info collected from other metal detecting websites. (Provided by Joe C.)
This 1st link is from Terry Ellis of the Albuquerque Metal Detector Association. He does a great job of explaining the "Do's & Don't of gaining permission". (Click Here) or see "pdf" file (Click Here)
To recap, here are some key points of Terry's article:
1. Find out the name of the property owner first as it makes you look more 'prepared'.
2. Think about what you're going to ask the landowner.
3.After this initial introduction, answer any questions or concerns the property owner may have and, most important, do not lie! Lies will catch up sooner or later but most likely sooner.
4. First impressions are very important, so make sure you are clean, wear clean clothes, and NO SUNGLASSES! Direct eye contact is the best method to gain the property owner's attention.
5. Know the neighborhood you are about to search. Take time to do some research, drive through it without a detector and make a list of the places that really look good to you.
6. If there are two or more of you hunting, send only one to the door, don't have your buddies lounging around on the lawn with their equipment while you get the OK. The others should stay in the car until you walk back and tell them it is a go or no go.
7. Once you start hunting, wear headphones. Loud beeping will become a water torture to the owner and imply a multitude of valuable targets whether or not they are.
8. When asking permission, I always tell the home owner that I will show them anything I find before leaving. The key word is SHOW. Notice I didn't imply "sharing".
9. Have some prearranged hand signals with your partner if you find something neat, a tap on the top of the head might mean silver or relics.
10. By the way, it goes without saying - remove trash you find as well as treasure when you search a yard.
11. Don't let a non productive yard reflect on your attitude as you depart. It is not the owner's fault that there was nothing there or that you failed to find your intended targets. Thank them for their hospitality as profusely as you would had you found $10 face value in old silver.
12. Lastly, treat the homeowners and their property with respect. Treasure hunting on someone's property without permission is trespassing. Removing an item without permission is theft.

Below are links to "Permission" "Liability Waiver" "Search & Salvage Agreement" forms.

Note: These are only examples, edit them as you see fit. Also as pointed out by Joe C.:
"Just found some additonal information about liability waivers. See these links. (Click Here) and (Here)
This is comment by one of the people posting on this site might give you some pause before thinking about using a liability waiver. You might check with your insurance rep first. I believe it comes under the topic of an insurer's subrogation rights."
"I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that if you sign away your rights to sue if you're injured, your insurance company has no obligation to pay your medical bills."
"Reason being, you have prevented them from recovering their money from the property owner. I'd sure ask my insurance man before I signed a liability waiver."

List of forms:
1. Permission form from the "TreasureFish" website. (Click Here)
2. Permission form from the "Jim Vokes' Detectin' Pages" website. (Click Here)
3. Permission & Liability Waiver form from the "Metal Detector For Coin Collecting" website. (Click Here)
4. Permission & Liability Waiver form from the "Tidewater Coin & Relic Club" website. (Click Here)
5. Permission & Liability Waiver form from the "Stone Mountain Treasure Hunters" website. (Click Here)
6. Permission form from "Steve Pearsall". (Click Here)
7. Liability Waiver form from Joe C. (Click Here)
8. Search & Salvage Agreement form from Joe C. (Click Here)

More info on this topic can be found on the GLMDing forum. (Click Here)

If you have any comments you would like to add to this list or have some questions you would like added here, contact me.
Email: webmaster@greatlakesmetaldetecting.com