Eminent Domain Report

One issue that eminent domain attorneys face routinely involves helping businesses obtain the relocation benefits to which they are entitled under the law, while at the same time pursuing a claim for lost business goodwill.  To us, there is a clear difference between the two, as we are indoctrinated early in our careers into understanding that the two types of relief, while seemingly closely related, are instead largely unrelated in the eyes of the law.

But to a typical business owner facing a forced relocation due to a government acquisition, the issues can appear thorny and complex.  ...

When eminent domain attorneys think of just compensation in the context of an eminent domain case, we're typically thinking about the value of what we can see:  the dirt itself; and anything built on that dirt.  But every so often, a property's real value lies not in what is on the surface, but what sits below the surface.

A recent post by the Biersdorf law firm, Mineral Rights in Eminent Domain Cases, reminds us about this often overlooked issue.  The post contains a nice summary of when and how these issues can arise, and I won't repeat all of what they have to say.  The bottom line is that when a ...

I received an interesting email last week about possible claims against a neighboring property owner who was taking steps in an apparent effort to lower the amount of compensation the agency would have to pay for the property.   I didn't get much in the way of details, but it did get me thinking about how (and why) this might occur, and what someone could do about it.

The first thought that occurred to me is why would a neighboring property owner want to cause the value of property to be lower?  It seems that in most circumstances, the last thing one owner would want is for a low value to be established ...

A recent post on the Biersdorf & Associates Eminent Domain Blog discussed criteria for hiring an eminent domain attorney.  While reading the post, I found myself agreeing with much of what they have to say, and since finding a qualified eminent domain attorney can be a tricky process, I thought I would pass it along.  That said, I disagree with some of what they say, so I also wanted to offer my own viewpoint.

Biersdorf breaks the inquiry down into three steps ...

A fundamental premise underlying eminent domain laws is that the owner is treated fairly under principles of just compensation.  This means that the owner receives fair market value for the property being condemned.  And, where there is an active, relevant real estate market with ample comparable sales data, this premise can be upheld through traditional appraisal methodologies.

Unfortunately, not all markets include legitimate, open market transactions from which to gather comparable sales data.  This is especially true where market conditions have deteriorated; in other ...

Over the weekend, someone posted a comment on an earlier piece involving the City of Vista's Efforts to Assemble an Auto Mall.  The comment referred to potential tax advantages to owners facing condemnation, and was probably more timely than the person commenting realized.  Here is the main point of the comment:

I have read that Owners forced to sell property though eminent domain have tax advantages on any gain as opposed to if they sell voluntarily.

The comment refers to Internal Revenue Code Section 1033, which provides tax deferral for "involuntary conversions" of ...