BLOG: Condemnation Law
Netherlands v State – Regulatory Taking Denied
“The State may not put so potent a Hobbesian stick into the Lockean bundle.” Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606, 627 (2001). That was the United States Supreme Court’s response thirteen years ago to Rhode Island’s argument that property owners could claim no loss from legislation shaping and defining property rights enacted prior to... Read More
Update – "House of Cards" Legislation Not Passed
As reported by the Washington Post here, a bill that would have increased the annual “tax credit” budget for production companies filming in Maryland (like Netflix’s House of Cards and HBO’s Veep) from $15M to $18.5M failed to pass last week in Maryland’s General Assembly. The fate of House of Cards filming in Maryland remains... Read More
Maryland Threatens to Take "House of Cards" by Eminent Domain
What skullduggery is this? Netflix/House of Cards’ star, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) was recently spotted in Annapolis lobbying legislators towards a new law that would make available additional tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks from the State of Maryland (reported by Bloomberg here). A legislative hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2013 before Maryland... Read More
You Gotta Be In it To Win It: Kentucky Court Stops Pipeline Taking
A Kentucky court recently stopped a utility company from utilizing eminent domain to build an underground gas pipeline to transport natural gas liquids through the Commonwealth. The case, Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain, Inc. v. Bluegrass Pipeline Company, LLC (Civil Action No. 13-CI-1492), involved the challenge by plaintiff, a non-profit agency formed for the purpose of... Read More
Happy Trails – Property Owner Wins Before USSCT
On March 10, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued its almost unanimous (8-1) decision in Brandt Revocable Trust v United States. The question presented is detailed in our prior blog here, but simply stated, the government argued that it owned the ground underneath an abandoned railroad right-of-way that permitted it to continue the Medicine Bow... Read More
Private Property Rights Protection Act Passed by the House
A federal bill H.R. 1944 introduced back in May of 2013, has been passed by the House of Representatives. Reported here. All the details and text of the bill are set forth in our June 2013 blog. Simply stated, the bill purportedly will punish States that abuse the eminent domain power by limiting federal dollars for... Read More
Experts' Valuation Arguments Rejected as Net Opinion in Hoboken Taking
Hudson County Assignment Judge Peter Bariso recently rejected a property owner’s argument that the date of value should be a date earlier than the commencement of condemnation action on August 23, 2012. City of Hoboken v. Ponte Equities, Inc. (Docket No. HUD-L-4095-12). The property owner argued that the date of value should have been June... Read More
Undersized Lot Receives Variance From Court to Avoide Inverse Condemnation Claim
While not our prototypical condemnation case, a trial judge in Ocean County aptly reversed a local zoning board in Jerman v. Tp. of Manchester (Docket No. OCN-L-1844-13). If affirmed the zoning board’s denial of a bulk variance that would have zoned the property into inutility; that is, it would have rendered the property valueless and would thereby... Read More
Beach Erosion Caused by Jetties May Constitute a Taking
The latest in a long-running dispute between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and lake-front property owners in Michigan, whose beaches have allegedly been washed away because of jetties installed by the Army Corps long ago, is a ruling from the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the takings’ claims... Read More
Taking Underwater Mortgages: Condemned to Failure?
Taking Underwater Mortgages: Condemned to Failure? Check out this post from our own Anthony DellaPelle which was just published in the American Bar Associations “In Limine” Blog. This story comes close to home to us in New Jersey as the cities of Newark and Irvington are currently studying the feasibility of using eminent domain to... Read More
