The Third Circuit recently held that state law is the standard for determining just compensation in Federal eminent domain cases. In Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC v. Permanent Easement, a pipeline company condemned property...more
A Connecticut legislative committee approved a bill to restrict public taking of private land for economic development purposes. The bill would prohibit state and municipal redevelopment agencies from using eminent domain to...more
Attorneys for the Pimlico Race Course owners say the city of Baltimore is trying to gain control of the racetrack and the signature Preakness Stakes race through eminent domain. The Stronach Group attorneys sent a letter...more
TX State Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst joined several statewide advocates for property rights to announce the filing of Senate Bill 421 which seeks to strengthen Texas property rights. If passed, Kolkhorst said the legislation...more
The US Supreme Court reheard oral arguments on whether a property owner can have a federal court decide an inverse condemnation case without first exhausting state remedies. In Knick v. Twp. of Scott, the property owner...more
Rep. Chris Quinn (R-Delaware) recently introduced a bill in the PA House that would require the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General to create a brief document to clearly outline the rights and responsibilities property...more
The United States House of Representatives passed the Private Property Rights Protection Act by voice vote. It seeks to prohibit condemnations for economic development or over property that is used for economic development...more
The PA Commonwealth Court recently held that a claim of adverse possession could be brought against a municipality when the municipality’s only use of the property during the statutory period was to hold the property for...more
The US Supreme Court issued its Kelo eminent domain case in 2005. That case held that it is not necessarily unconstitutional to take private property for another private entity to use. Now the subject of that case is the...more
The North Carolina Supreme Court has held that real estate brokers may legally testify regarding the fair market value of real property in condemnation cases. In NCDOT v. Mission Battleground Leasco, LLC, the condemnee...more
I tried a case in York County, PA involving a condemnation of the former York County Prison. My clients purchased the property in the ‘80s and were waiting for the right time to develop the property when it was taken by the...more
A New Jersey appellate Court on Monday upheld a $4.4 million valuation of a parking lot condemned by the city of Hoboken. In Ponte Equities Inc. et al. v. City of Hoboken, the property owners sought additional damages...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear the appeal of the owner of a Florida Keys island who alleged that increasingly restrictive development regulations have harmed his property rights. The property owner argued that...more
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear a developer’s case against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection over a permit denial for a beachfront parcel. The case relates to a DEP denial of a final permit...more
To address the homeless crisis, NY City will acquire buildings that house homeless families to convert them to affordable housing, using with legal force if necessary. It has stated that it will use eminent domain if...more
A NJ appellate court ruled that the state’s Sports and Exposition Authority had the right to use eminent domain to acquire a landfill to continue solid waste disposal there. The Court held that the New Jersey Sports and...more
A New Mexico utility has filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a decision precluding it from condemning land for a power line because the Navajo Nation held an interest in that property. The...more
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Marietta violated the Georgia Landowner’s Bill of Rights when it condemned a grocery store without providing a summary of its appraisal to the property owner. The City...more
The Louisiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments whether St. Bernard Parish port officials violated Louisiana’s eminent domain laws when they seized a privately run port operation along a mile of Mississippi River frontage in...more
A bill was introduced in the PA House of Representatives which stating that “in the case of a partial taking of the property of a condemnee, a condemnor may not render the remaining parcel inaccessible to the condemnee by...more
The Utah legislature is considering policy changes regarding the acquisition of land for new charter schools and further expansions of existing schools. Specifically, there currently is uncertainty as to the eminent domain...more
The Georgia Supreme Court is considering an important case involving the state’s 2006 Landowner’s Bill of Rights statute. At issue is whether certain provisions of that statute are mandatory or merely advisory....more
Oregon has enacted legislation establishing a specific statute of limitations on civil actions against appraisers and appraisal firms for real estate appraisal activity. The law takes applies only to appraisals performed...more
Property owners whose land will be taken for the Sabal Trail Transmission LLC’s natural gas pipeline should be compensated under Florida law rather than federal rules, a Florida federal judge ruled....more
The New Jersey Appellate Division has held that the government can condemn easements for beach projects. In that case, the DEP sought voluntary easements from the landowners as part of a dune-and-berm system spanning the...more