Verizon put orange marks all over my front yard!

[hp17]

Verizon has marked orange markings in my front yard. I have not ordered any services. I called the number and they gave me another number to call which only goes to voice mail. It's my personal property. Please advise.

[jonjones1]

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@hp1wrote:

Verizon has marked orange markings in my front yard. I have not ordered any services. I called the number and they gave me another number to call which only goes to voice mail. It's my personal property. Please advise.

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There is a national service that marks out where buried lines and services are located.

this is not done by Verizon, or gas & electric, or water department. It’s a separate company. You must have seen the commercials where it says “call before you dig”?

on the property front yes you own your property but utilities have easement rights, and they also have an obligation to maintain and repair their services.

you can call your city or town or village hall and complain but it will go nowhere.

if you don’t like the orange flags simply remove them. 

[hp17]

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@jonjoneswrote:

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@hp1wrote:

Verizon has marked orange markings in my front yard. I have not ordered any services. I called the number and they gave me another number to call which only goes to voice mail. It's my personal property. Please advise.

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There is a national service that marks out where buried lines and services are located.

this is not done by Verizon, or gas & electric, or water department. It’s a separate company. You must have seen the commercials where it says “call before you dig”?

on the property front yes you own your property but utilities have easement rights, and they also have an obligation to maintain and repair their services.

you can call your city or town or village hall and complain but it will go nowhere.

if you don’t like the orange flags simply remove them. 

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Typical answer. Work WILL be blocked and video will be available online. Checked with the county. Utility does not have rights to damage my property and expensive lawn.

[jonjones1]

Typical answer what?

i am a customer and a property owner. Verizon, cable, National Grid power company all have at one time or another have been marking out “where their lines, pipes etc. are located” in fact when I had cable I called one day to get Fios internet and found when the tech showed up that Verizon had already placed fiber on the side of our home.

told tech Verizon had no authority to run fiber optics unless I gave permission first.

said its common practice. However if you decide to interfere with a utility upgrade or repair the service companies have and do get Police and courts involved.

like I said you don’t like the marker flags simply remove them.

[hp17]

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@jonjoneswrote:

Typical answer what?

i am a customer and a property owner. Verizon, cable, National Grid power company all have at one time or another have been marking out “where their lines, pipes etc. are located” in fact when I had cable I called one day to get Fios internet and found when the tech showed up that Verizon had already placed fiber on the side of our home.

told tech Verizon had no authority to run fiber optics unless I gave permission first.

said its common practice. However if you decide to interfere with a utility upgrade or repair the service companies have and do get Police and courts involved.

like I said you don’t like the marker flags simply remove them.

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Typical answer in the sense that it matches what the digging contractor would give. I understand that at some point law enforcement will be involved. If you have been through this, may be you can provide some pointers.

[jonjones1]

Unfortunately or fortunately depending how you look at it we have had good experiences with the service companies. At one juncture the town told us they have the right of way a foot or so on the property. 

Now when work is done on private property the contractor cannot leave the property worse off than when they found it.

they normally re-grass or refill holes they make and like in our case they filled in the dirt and reseeded with grass.  In fact they worked in such a way that it was quick and clean.

you might get a similar work crew. 

In some locations home owners have gotten court orders to try and stop the work, and police have been used when it appears there will be a issue or property damage.

i would just wait and see what they are doing. 

[CRobGauth · Accepted solution]

As previouis poster stated, most properties have a utility easement.

If you get a copy of the plat for your property, it should be shown.

And there is no guarantee they are going to dig where the marks are.

Marks are just to mark any utilities.

It can be some distance (I think 2-3 ft) from where the actual digging will be done.
And it may not even be evident in your yard.

It is possible they will be doing underground boring.

The fact the marks are orange denotes communication lines.

So it may not even be Verizon that is doing the digging.

The marking company just noted their current lines.

[hp17]

There was no digging after all! They found underground conduit!