The city of Montgomery, the cradle of the civil rights movement, may be in violation of Alabama’s eminent domain law which is one of the most restrictive in the country. Often without adequate notice, it is demolishing the homes of property owners without compensation or due process. Typically, it then bills the property owners for the costs of demolition. Many of the demolished homes are in heavily minority neighborhoods. Although the city alleges that the homes are “blighted,” the case of Jimmy McCall, who is profiled in the video, contradict these claims. According to photos (not shown in the video) and a structural engineer, McCall’s new home, which he built himself, was in excellent shape. Although McCall won several court cases upholding his rights, the city demolished his home and has refused compensation. Click on the following link to view the video form the Alabama Civil Rights Advisory Commission hearing held in Montgomery, Alabama April 29th, 2009.
Category Archives: Eminent Domain
Eminent Domain – LIVE Conversation Portraits
EMINENT DOMAIN: THE AMERICAN DREAM ON SALE,” LIVE from the NYPL Conversation Portrait, illustrated by artist Flash Rosenberg and edited by Sarah Lohman, June 18, 2008. What is the American Dream? Does it mean having a better life by creating a home and a community, living together for generations, building and tending relationships to one another and to a place? Or do we create a “better life” by moving up, moving out, removing the old, replacing with the new? Between 1949 and 1973, urban renewal, a program of the US government, bulldozed 2500 neighborhoods in 993 American cities and dispossessed one million people. Roots got cut, neighbors and families became separated, languages and cultures were destroyed, and social bonds were broken. Marshall Berman, Professor of Political Science, City College and the Graduate Center; Mindy Fullilove, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Public Health at Columbia University; Tom Angotti, Professor of Urban Affairs & Planning at Hunter College; and Brian Berger, photographer/blogger, discuss the use of eminent domain and how urban renewal is changing the cityscape of New York City. Filmmaker Michael Galinsky moderates.
UPC Windfarm Prattsburgh Eminent Domain #2
On Monday April 21, 2008 the Prattsburgh Town Board voted to approve a resolution that allows for the use of eminent domain proceeding in order to facilitate the Windfarm Prattsburgh Project. Cohocton Wind Watch is appalled by a threat of an inappropriate application of legal confiscation that only benefits UPC Wind. UPC representatives and attorney refused to provide any evidence that sufficient wind exists in Prattsburgh to generate electricity from industrial wind turbines.
Selecting an Appraiser — Eminent Domain Strategy Considerations (4 of 5)
Not all appraisers are equal. In fact, selecting the wrong appraiser to evaluate your property can ruin a good eminent domain claim. Learn more about the selection process used when hiring an appraiser to evaluate property in eminent domain cases.
Susette Kelo: Act to End Eminent Domain Abuse, June 23, 2008
www.IJ.org Three years ago, the US Supreme Court ruled that my little pink cottage in New London, Connecticut, could be handed over to a private developer. It was just one of 10000 instances of eminent domain abuse to occur in the United States over a 5-year period. Just one instance—yet a tipping point that sparked a national revolution. On this, the third anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s dreadful decision, I’m asking for 10000 people to join me in donating to the non-profit legal foundation that stood by me all the way to the Supreme Court, and continues to stand by heroic individuals fighting to keep the homes that are rightfully theirs. By donating to the Institute for Justice on the anniversary of the ruling—June 23, 2008—you will become a Founding Member of the Susette Kelo Liberty Club. Every single dollar raised during this special event will be used to fight eminent domain abuse across the nation. And while all donations are appreciated, I hope you’ll consider giving your most generous gift of $25, $50, $100, or more. Even a $5 contribution will send a message to those in power that our homes are important to us and must be protected. Yours in Freedom, Susette Kelo
Panel Warns of Delay for Hudson Train Tunnel
A committee advising Gov. Christopher J. Christie of New Jersey cautioned that eminent-domain issues on the Manhattan side could stall the project by four to six months.
View full post on NYT > Eminent Domain
Don’t Take It Any More–Start an Inverse Condemnation Lawsuit
Has new construction by a government agency damaged your property? Has your property been flooded or undercut? Has the value of your property been decreased by government construction in the area due to noise, lost view, or other reasons? If it has, you don’t need to simply accept the loss or damage to your property. Instead, you can begin what is known as an inverse condemnation lawsuit. With this lawsuit, you can hold the government responsible for the damage to your property.
Why Inverse Condemnation?
In a normal condemnation proceeding, also known as an eminent domain lawsuit, a government agency, either federal, state, or local, seeks to get ownership of your property for use in some public works project, such as a road, school, or airport. In an inverse condemnation, the government acts first. It constructs a public works project either without using eminent domain, with inadequate eminent domain, or without recognizing the full scope of the project’s impact.
If a project alters drainage in an area, it can cause flooding to one or more private homes. If a project digs, it can take away support from under fences, outbuildings, or even homes. A project can also sometimes dramatically decrease property values if it add significant noise or traffic to an area without adding services of local value. A government might build in a way that interferes with a traditional easement you utilized in an adjacent lot.
In all these cases, the government has essentially taken something away from your property. Now you have an unlivable home that must either be sold (at a loss), or have significant work done to prevent future flooding. Now you cannot build to the property line or have lost valuable structures from undercutting. Now you cannot use your back lot because the route you took across your neighbor’s land is gone. In any of these cases, you can file an inverse condemnation lawsuit to get back what has been taken from you.
What Compensation Can You Get?
In all cases, the US Constitution guarantees that you receive “just compensation” for property lost, and in Florida, the law states that you must be given “full compensation.” The amount of your compensation will depend on what rights you have lost. If parts of your property are unusable, you can force the government to consider this a partial taking, and get severance damages. If all your property is lost, the government will compensate you fully for the loss of your entire property at its highest and best use. Individual uses and rights will be appraised and compensated according to legal precedent and argument in a trial.
In addition to normal inverse condemnation procedures, the Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Protection Act can allow you to receive compensation for situations where a governmental action “inordinately burdens” you by restricting how you can use your property, which can sometimes include zoning laws and other legal actions.
To learn more about eminent domain and inverse condemnation, visit the website of the Florida Property Rights Law Firm, P.A. today.
Disclaimer- Martyn L. Daniel represents both private parties and public agencies and provides these blog entries as a general overview on eminent domain related news.
North Tarrant Express and Eminent Domain
TxDOT’s filing of eminent domain on the North Tarrant Express may be the positive aspect this project needs for right of way acquisition.
Eminent domain provides a set of rules that the property owners, tenants, and the public agency (TxDOT) have to follow. These rules make the acquisition process smoother and often more fair for the property owner and tenants.
Eminent domain regulations spell-out how fair market value is determined for the properties and what relocation benefits are available to the tenants.
Even with regulations in place, there can still be significant differences in the interpretation of these rules. Typically, these obstacles involve the disparity in property values and relocation costs. However, eminent domain regulations are in place to help all parties involved to reach bilateral goals resulting in a quicker and fairer outcome.
Martyn Daniel has helped hundreds of businesses successfully relocate; often to more prosperous locations. Martyn offers one-on-one consulting services, group workshops and online seminars for clients who need the relevant facts to make an educated decision.
To schedule a free 15-minute no obligation call with Martyn, please click here for an appointment https://my.timedriver.com/F8VSS .
Eminent Domain Condemnation
What Property and Business Owners Need to Know About Eminent Domain or Condemnation
Property Owners:
When a public agency is taking your property for a new right-of-way or other public use, with the use of Eminent Domain or Condemnation, you have the right to receive the fair market value for your property.
Eminent domain is the law that gives the public agency the right to take your property for public use.
Condemnation is the action taken by the public agency to force you to sell your property by taking you to court where issues such as property value will be determined.
A real property appraiser will evaluate the fair market value. The government agency condemning your property will hire an appraiser to help them determine the fair market value, which will be the basis of their offer to purchase your property.
The property owner can also hire their own appraiser to do the same.
Any differences (which are common) between the two appraisers’ evaluations of fair market value can be negotiated between the two parties, mediated, or taken to court.
Business Owners:
Business owners located on property being taken by use of Eminent Domain, have the right to relocation benefits, if the condemning public agency is using federal funds in the project, or they have elected to pay relocation benefits.
Usually relocation benefits follow the relocation guidelines of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Authority (FTA) or the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The relocation guidelines are very similar among the three federal agencies.
Often, your state or local public agency has adopted one of the Federal Agency guidelines to use on their projects.
The public agency will provide a relocation agent to work with you on determining your eligible relocation benefits.
As part of your relocation benefits, you have the right to hire a professional to help you plan your relocation.
Martyn Daniel has helped hundreds of businesses successfully relocate while following eminent domain relocation guidelines, with the use of his consulting services, coaching services, and group workshops, to provide each business with the knowledge to make educated decisions.
Right of Way
What You Need to Know about Right-of-Way
Right of way is real estate owned by the government. When the government needs your property for a new or expanding project, their right of way will adjust to accommodate their project by taking your property. The government has the right to purchase your property with the use of eminent domain to acquire their needed right of way.
The engineers designing the government project determine the right of way needed. As a property owner, you should be invited to offer your input on the design concepts at local public meetings. The intentions of these meetings are to take in community questions and comments for design considerations, as well as, fulfilling a requirement for preparing the environmental impact statement, which is a necessary part of the eminent domain process. However, when asking participants in my recent eminent domain workshop on their experience with these meetings, they all replied that they attended every meeting offered, and none of their input was incorporated into the design. Nonetheless, you will want to attend these public meetings to at least become better informed about the project and how the new right of way will affect you or your property.
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