A California property owner learns that the state plans to widen a highway nearby. The government has not filed a condemnation action, but the proposed project is already affecting the property. Potential buyers lose interest. A planned commercial development is put on hold. An appraisal for refinancing comes in lower than expected. The government has… Read more »
A letter arrives from a government agency. The agency needs part or all of your property for a road project, utility corridor, or other public infrastructure. Attached is an offer. The agency expects a response. Receiving that letter raises immediate questions. Does the government have the right to take your property? Is the offer fair?… Read more »
When a California government agency takes your property or damages it without following proper procedures, you have constitutional rights. Many property owners do not realize there are two different legal paths to challenge what happened: eminent domain and inverse condemnation. The difference between eminent domain vs inverse condemnation California property owners encounter can determine whether… Read more »
Unanimous Court of Appeal Decision Rebuffs County of San Diego’s Attempt to Deny Owner State Constitutional Tax Benefits After Property is Taken by Eminent Domain In a published precedent setting decision handed down on July 18, 2014, the Court of Appeal held that a property owner is entitled to the full protection of Proposition 3… Read more »
In a pleasant surprise for property owners in California, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled last week in Property Reserve v Superior Court that the state must initiate eminent domain proceedings before it can drill and fill bore holes on private property. The issues in the case were fairly straightforward, but may have larger… Read more »
For years local redevelopment agencies were the bane of private property rights in California. Until recently these agencies were clothed with the power to seize private homes through eminent domain and then give that property to private developers like Costco or Wal-Mart, all in the name of community development. That changed in 2011 when the… Read more »
For many in California the 2008 housing crisis never ended. Currently, thousands of California homeowners are behind or struggling to make mortgage payments on homes that simply are not worth what they agreed to pay when they took out their mortgage. To accommodate these unfortunate circumstances, a distressing number of California cities are now contemplating… Read more »
