Urban Exploration: Is It Illegal to Enter Abandoned Buildings?

Urban exploration, "urbex" for short, is the exploration of abandoned buildings, such as dilapidated houses, factories, hospitals, and other structures that have fallen into disrepair.

Urbex has exploded in popularity with the rise of social media. Urban explorers ("urbexers") connect on platforms like TikTok and Instagram and post photographs of the fascinating and eerie places they tour. But urbex is risky. Entering abandoned buildings is physically dangerous and can lead to criminal charges.

Is Exploring an Abandoned Building a Crime?

Entering an abandoned building without permission is typically illegal. At a minimum, you could potentially be charged with trespassing. If you enter with the intent to steal or vandalize the property, you could be charged with the more serious crime of burglary.

Trespassing In an Abandoned Structure

Just because a building looks abandoned doesn't mean it has no owner. Many buildings in disrepair, particularly in urban areas land where land is at a premium, still belong to someone.

Private property owners have a right to exclusively use their property and prevent other people from entering without permission. People who unlawfully enter or remain on someone else's property are trespassing.

Trespassing laws vary from state to state but typically require prosecutors to prove that someone entered property posted as private (for example, with signs, a fence, or a padlock) or entered property after being instructed not to return.

Burglarizing an Abandoned Structure

Some urbexers live by the motto, "Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints." Others enter abandoned buildings to steal (known as "scavenging" or "urban mining"), graffiti, or destroy property.

Entering a structure without permission and with the intent to commit a felony or any type of larceny (theft) is called burglary.

Urbexers who are caught with spray paint, stolen property, or incriminating tools like bolt cutters are more likely to be charged with burglary. Prosecutors use these types of tools to prove intent in burglary cases.

What Are the Penalties for Trespassing In an Abandoned Structure?

Trespass crimes are typically misdemeanors. Penalties vary from state to state but may include a fine, community service, probation, and potentially up to a year in jail.

In some states, trespassing may be charged as an infraction (a fine-only offense, similar to a traffic ticket).

What Are the Penalties for Burglarizing an Abandoned Structure?

Burglary is a more serious crime than trespassing and is nearly always charged as a felony. Most states divide burglary into degrees. First-degree burglary involves entering an occupied home and is punished the most severely. An abandoned building wouldn't be considered an occupied home. Instead, burglarizing an abandoned building would likely be charged as a second-degree burglary.

Exact penalties vary from state to state but second-degree burglary is almost always a felony that carries a potential prison sentence of several years or more depending on many factors, including the defendant's criminal record.

Defenses to Burglary and Trespassing Charges Involving Abandoned Structures

To convict someone of a crime, prosecutors have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The person accused has a right to present a defense or remain silent and argue that the prosecution failed to prove its case. Here are a few of the defenses and arguments that might come into play in cases involving the exploration of abandoned structures.

Permission

If someone has permission to enter a property they can't be convicted of trespassing. But how does someone prove that they had permission? The best proof would be written permission from the legal owner.

No Notice

A common defense to trespassing is that there was no notice that the property was private. If, for example, there isn't a "no trespassing" sign or a fence around the property, an urbexer might be able to argue that they were unaware they were trespassing.

This defense might work once. But after urbexers have been told not to return to a property by the owner, a security guard, or law enforcement, they are on notice that they are trespassing and can be prosecuted if they return.

Public Property

In the unlikely event that the abandoned structure is usually open to the public, urbexers might have a defense to trespassing charges unless they have been previously banned from the property or the property was closed to the public at the time of the alleged trespass.

Abandonment

Laws against trespassing and burglary are intended to protect people's homes and property from intrusion by unwanted visitors and prevent violent encounters. Because the goal of these laws is to protect the privacy and sanctity of private property, the fact that the property is abandoned is sometimes a defense to burglary or trespassing.

In some states, such as Connecticut, it is a defense to a charge of burglary that the building is abandoned. In those states, for example, a person who goes into an abandoned building and steals copper wire could be convicted of theft, but not burglary. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-104 (2024).)

Abandonment is also a defense to a charge of trespassing in many states, such as New Jersey. For example, a person in New Jersey who goes into an abandoned warehouse could not be charged with trespassing. (N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:18-3 (2024).)

Exploring Abandoned Buildings Is Dangerous

Beyond the legal risks, urban exploration is dangerous—sometimes even deadly. Abandoned buildings may contain hazardous materials, asbestos, airborne mold, standing water, rats, and other vermin.

Urbexers may encounter people using drugs or having illicit sex in abandoned buildings and those people may be armed. Or they might encounter someone who is suffering from an untreated mental illness who acts erratically.

Here are a few devastating examples of what can happen when urban exploration goes wrong:

• In 2017, an urbexer fell to his death while trespassing at a luxury hotel in Chicago.
• In 2021, an urbexer was found shot to death in front of an abandoned motel in Alabama.
• In 2022, three urban explorers in Michigan found the body of a man who was crushed to death in an abandoned funeral home.
• In 2022, a teenager fell to his death while exploring an abandoned power plant in New Orleans.

If you insist on exploring abandoned places, do your homework and find out who owns the property. Ask permission before entering private property or consider exploring abandoned places open to the public. Take only photographs and wear appropriate gear. Don't go alone.

Get Help From a Lawyer

If you've been arrested for a crime involving an abandoned property, talk to a criminal defense lawyer. A lawyer can protect your rights and explore potential defenses with you.