Recently, apparently, some community members got a "lease" from my Grandmother, but only after several occurrences in which they asked for permission. There is NO written Lease. No contract. My uncle inspects the property and recently realized that there is antique farm equipment missing, a fence was torn up, and trees have been torn up and cut down. I was wondering since I am younger what legal rights if any we have...

Hello j:

If grandma is an owner she can enter into a lease and you're going to be bound by it. If she's not, then no matter what piece of paper they have, it's NOT a lease...

So, IF there's a lease, and they BROKE it by stealing, they can be evicted according to the laws of your state... If there's NO lease, they can still be evicted for stealing.

excon

What was the lease for and about? Verbal leases, without backup, are not leases because it becomes a he said, she said. Maybe you can expand on what supposedly transpired. "since you are younger"??

"younger" as in I am a teenager. I was wondering what rights we had. The agreement was a "lease" to use from empty farm land, and there is equipment missing that we found on THEIR property. There is NO written lease, as I previously.

"younger" as in I am a teenager. I was wondering what rights we had. The agreement was a "lease" to use from empty farm land, and there is equipment missing that we found on THEIR property. There is NO written lease, as I previously.

A verbal agreement is not a lease. The term "lease" specifically means a written contract to pay money in exchange for the right to use property for a specific time.

You (that is, your family: specifically your grandparents or whoever owns the equipment) can report them to the police and have them charged with theft.

At that point, they may try to claim that she said they could use the equipment, use the farm land, etc. for some rental terms (amount, time of payment, etc.). Who knows what they will say. The investigating officers might want to find inconsistencies in their stories.

What does your grandmother say? Did she agree with them on any of this?