RV Boondocking on city streets - where is it legal?

path1 wrote:

caliguy35 wrote:


I know California it's pretty much illegal except maybe in Venice Beach.

That would be the best place as you know it is legal and free. Enjoy!!!

Its neither

3 dog nights wrote:
Simple answer ask. Ask the locality. Ask the local police. Ask at a local church. Ask at a civic group you are a member of. Ask the Local Good Sam group.
Just ask. If you're in my area, I'll let you stay on my property for a night or two, hope to stay on your's when in your area.
Why all of the confrontation?

its simple,there are way too many weirdos,then ever before,(I blame drugs for that)
so people are naturaly aprehensive of strangers.
I found that best way to deal with anyone is to stay cool and be polite,unless my life was in danger..
if someone parked in front of my house,Id inquire whether they need help,or what are they up to?
Id let cops to deal with suspicious people or drunks

Simple answer ask. Ask the locality. Ask the local police. Ask at a local church. Ask at a civic group you are a member of. Ask the Local Good Sam group.
Just ask. If you're in my area, I'll let you stay on my property for a night or two, hope to stay on your's when in your area. Why all of the confrontation?

What that means is that I can walk onto your porch and knock on your door. I am not trespassing. If you tell me to leave and I delay or refuse then I am trespassing. If I am in a building I am trespassing. The simple act of merely being present on your property is not LEGAL trespassing. Morally if I am some place that you have legal control over, yes in your mind I fit the description of a trespasser, but more than likely will not rise to the legal definition. The law is a funny thing!

pitch wrote:
Just as an aside, It is not legally trespassing until I am asked to leave and then refuse. Signs mean only that you intend to prosecute if don't comply with your request to leave.

Where did you come up with this? In Montana, private property, no trespassing, means "NO TRESPASSING", not you have to leave if you get caught. As soon as you cross a fence marked with a no trespassing sign you have broken the law. I would think that would be the interpretation of the law most places.

caliguy35 wrote:


I know California it's pretty much illegal except maybe in Venice Beach.

That would be the best place as you know it is legal and free. Enjoy!!!

Varies on state. Here is what the law states in Texas, which can be very different from other states.

The purple paint and the sign give the "notice" as prescribed by law. No warning needed before the sheriff gets called.

As for when to bring out the firepower, this is a good guide.

Believe it or not, Texas isn't that bad. However, I've had stories because Austin is the fastest growing city in the US (as per Forbes), so with people moving in, statistically, problems and crime follow.

I can understand protecting one's property because there are plenty of neer' do wells out there who are looking to get access to stuff (and this is not intended to be flame against anyone here.)

However I've become lazy in life, and it is a lot easier for me to sign a police report, hand the sheriff over some footage from my CCTV system, then sign an insurance claim... than it is to fill out a booking form at the county jail due to an unauthorized firearm discharge within city limits, or even worse, arraignment forms for other firearms offenses. Nothing in my place is worth spending months dealing with criminal courts and juries, because if I'm out and working, most stuff can be replaced with an insurance check or at worst, a few paychecks.

Now, a burglary of a habitation is a different thing, of course.

Armitage and Milwaukee, Chicago north side under the "L" tracks behind the second hand store, get there early before all the spots are taken by locals. Good taco stand on the corner of Western & Milwaukee. Didn't get a ticket for parking just for no plate somebody made off with it.

Just as an aside, It is not legally trespassing until I am asked to leave and then refuse. Signs mean only that you intend to prosecute if don't comply with your request to leave.

msmith1199 wrote:

bigdogger wrote:
I was going to clarify that the shotgun comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but the more I though about it, the more I realize it is pretty close to true. If a stranger was parked in front of my home, I absolutely would confront them, and I probably would be carrying a weapon, which is totally legal. I am on my property, and as long as I didn't directly aim it at someone, I am totally within the law. Since I am not an idiot, I would know if someone was hiding inside. I would bang on the rig loudly and frequently, along with informing the cretins inside that it is in their best interest to move and move very quickly. The police would be called and I am 100% sure they would be on my side, parking laws be damned. Since I would swear to the officer that I know someone is inside, if you didn't answer the door, the officer would be duty bound to enter the rig to perform an emergency welfare check. When they find you alive and well, your troubles will have just begun. You could be cited for failure to comply with a lawful police order and will be a prime candidate to for a search looking for illegal contraband.
It would play out like this in countless neighborhoods and towns everywhere. People are concerned about their safety and the safety of their children. Some weirdos living in an RV are not going to be welcomed in nearly any neighborhood. Stick to the truck stops, the Walmarts,, the rest areas and all the other acceptable free locations.

If you really act like this, you run the risk of elevating a potentially harmless and innocent situation into a shooting which could land you if not in jail, at least in years of endless court battles. What happens when you run out there to confront these obvious outlaws and they see your gun and they get out their gun and things go downhill from there? Turns out once all the smoke clears that the outlaws in the motorhome were really your neighbors in-laws who dropped by for the night on their way to Quartzite to spending the winter?

Guess the neighbor's inlaws would learn a hard lesson that you don't confront a homeowner on their own property, at least in Texas. Maybe you people live in neighborhoods different from mine, but there is NEVER a strange RV or Camping unit, or out of state van parked on the street in front of any house in our neighborhood. If the neighbors had someone visiting in an RV, it would be parked directly in front of their house, probably with an electrical cord running to it. They would also let those around them know what was going on. There would never, ever be a reason for an unknown vehicle to be parked in front of my house. And if one should appear, it will be investigated and if it has no business being there, which it wouldn't, it will be moving on down the road.