Another Inverse Condemnation Complaint Bounced
A New Jersey appeals court recently affirmed the dismissal of an inverse condemnation complaint filed by a property owner against the Township of Mount Laurel, which asserted that a resolution adopted by the Township amounted to a total regulatory taking of his property. Carroll v. Township of Mt. Laurel, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate...
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Recovery of Owner’s Attorneys’ Fees Limited in “Complicated” Inverse Condemnation Case
A New Jersey appeals court recently limited a Bergen County property owner’s ability to recover attorneys’ fees in an inverse condemnation proceeding to those fees actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the condemnation. The plaintiff, NJ Capital Partners, LLC, filed an inverse condemnation action after the Oakland Planning Board denied its subdivision application twice. After...
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Possible Inverse Condemnation Looms in Variance Denial Case
A New Jersey appellate court recently affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a local municipality’s denial of a variance application to build one single family residence on a 24 acre lot. The Last Frontier, Inc. v. Blairstown Tp. Zoning Bd. of Adj., Docket A-5205-08T2 (May 24, 2010). A variance was required because the property...
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DeVillier v Texas – Owner Entitled to Just Compensation in State Court Proceeding
Here’s the short story. Texas Dep’t of Transportation modified a highway adjacent to private property to act as flood protection for property south of the highway. But, every time it rained post-construction, the Property owner north of the highway was flooded as depicted on the image from the Court’s opinion above (right side of photo)....
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No More Gold for El Dorado County California
A unanimous United States Supreme Court decided in favor of property owner George Sheetz on April 12, 2024. Opinion here: Sheetz v Eldorado. Six months ago, the Court granted certiorari to hear the owner’s complaint about an excessive permit fee of $23,420 (our blog on topic here). The fee was imposed as a condition precedent...
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Something Stinks (But Not The Jury Award For Houses Flooded w/ Sewage)
Quick one before heading out for the Easter holiday weekend. Apparently, a Camden County jury recently awarded four property owners over $21,000,000 for damages caused by a flooding event in 2019, which substantially damaged their residential properties. The plaintiffs’ alleged that before the flooding event in June 2019, their properties ranged in value from $350,000...
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Eminent Domain in the Amazon Rainforest?
Being a “dirt lawyer” or owner’s counsel for the past twenty years – you start seeing takings’ law in everyday life. For instance, this past Sunday I read an article in the New York Times – Brazil Found Last Survivors of Amazon Tribe. Now What? (August 20, 2023) In 1989, a government agent, deep in...
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Sandy Dunes Still Creating Property Rights Disputes
Earlier this year, several oceanfront property owners in Toms River sued their homeowner’s association and the municipality because they were precluded from building a “dune walkover.” The dunes are those that were funded after the devastation to the Jersey Shore caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The project was designed by the Army Corps of...
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Oklahoma! (Childers v. Arrowood)
“Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain….” Wait, nope, that’s for another blog. Another strange takings case from our Owners Counsel of America colleague Robert Thomas, as reported in his Inverse Condemnation Blog (God only knows how he finds these cases!) This one comes from the Oklahoma Supreme Court and involves the taking of...
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Great 8, Number 8: Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon
For the final case in my “Great 8”, who else but Holmes? Before we get there, a quick caveat on “great cases” (from Holmes): “Great cases like hard cases make bad law. For great cases are called great, not by reason of their real importance in shaping the law of the future, but because of...
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