Eminent domain is the process by which the government is legally allowed to take private property that will be used for public purposes. This means that the state, federal, and local government agencies are legally allowed to seize your property from you, regardless of how long that piece of property has been in your possession.
Luckily, the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution give protections to individual landowners who are facing the government taking of their property. The 5th Amendment states, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” “Just compensation” is often subjective, so only an experienced eminent domain lawyer can advise you on what is fair compensation for your property.
Just compensation includes more than just the value of the land. Just compensation can include any buildings on the property, any business losses that occur because you are losing the property, and any personal loss that you might encounter due to needing to move.
The initial offer from the government is almost never “just compensation.” Most city, state, and county governments expect that you will reject their first offer, so they intentionally make a lowball offer initially. Unfortunately, many people do not understand eminent domain law and the process, so they accept the initial offer, leaving thousands (or even millions) of dollars on the table.
Eminent domain is legal, but only if the government adequately compensates you for the taking. These are items that should always be considered when submitting your request for just compensation:
- The size of the property. The property size matters because the landowner will have more options for development if there is more land acreage.
- The zoning of the property. How the property is zoned is going to greatly affect the value of that property in the market. For example, a property that is zoned residential or agriculture is likely not going to be worth as much as property which is zoned commercial. Although primary zoning will be considered, future zoning changes can also be a factor.
- Future income generated by the property. If the property will generate future income for the landowner, this too should be considered in the valuation. Income to the property owner is an important item of “just compensation.”
- Future plans or uses for the property. If the property can be developed in the future and sold for a much higher price, this will be important when determining the present value of the property. An experienced land appraiser can help you determine when and if a property can be developed further in the future.
As you can see, there are many items which go into the valuation of property to determine just compensation. An experienced eminent domain lawyer can advise you on what items you should claim if the government is threatening to take your property.
Our firm takes cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that we only take a percentage of any amount that we recover for you over the amount of the government’s initial offer. In other words, you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by hiring our law firm. If we can help you with your eminent domain case, please contact one of our Georgia eminent domain lawyers today.
