What is inverse condemnation

Knick's battle for more just compensation for her private property was a losing one at lower levels of the court until she initiated inverse condemnation. Knick's case still met with obstacles, but it was ultimately brought to the Supreme Court, where it was upheld by a decision; Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissenting opinion.

If you're a property owner who's been notified of a condemnation proceeding, you must seek the advice of an eminent domain lawyer. It's wise to choose an attorney who's also experienced in inverse condemnation law to protect your property rights.

While the government does have the ability to seize your property through eminent domain, you also have the right to fair compensation, whether through an appeal during a condemnation action or an inverse condemnation lawsuit, depending on the situation.

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Like it or not, the power to force the sale or take private property for public use has a long history as one aspect of the sovereign power of government. This is called the power of eminent domain. Eminent domain is initiated by the government.

Share in verse condemnation. Accessed 12 Nov. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Legal Definition of in verse condemnation. The property owner argued that the remaining access was not nearly wide enough to accommodate the commercial use for which the property was zoned.

An inverse condemnation action was initiated and a judge ruled in favor of the property owner by declaring a taking and therefore allowing the property owner to pursue a claim for just compensation. Regulatory Takings are the most common inverse condemnation situation and arise when a government entity passes some type of regulation that restricts a property owners ability to use their property. The common term for this is zoning. In the past few decades, zoning ordinances have started to encroach more and more on property owners, consequently restricting and changing the way they can use their property.

Fortunately for property owners, the courts have taken notice of this practice and now give owners the opportunity to take legal action if this occurs. If a new zoning ordinance restricts the use of property so significantly that it effectively takes the property from the property owner, or if the ordinance takes the use of the property away from the owner, then the property owner has the right to pursue an inverse condemnation claim to initiate the eminent domain process.

There are two standard tests that have been established by the US Supreme Court with regards to regulatory takings:. If the regulation takes away all the use for that property, a total taking — or a Lucas taking — has occurred. If a property owner has a Lucas taking, they are entitled to the entire value that property had before the regulation was imposed.

Under the Penn Central Test, a partial taking has taken place. With a Penn Central taking, the owner still has some use to the property after the regulation is imposed, but the use has been so severely restricted that it causes the value of property to decrease significantly. If this occurs, a property owner has a valid regulatory taking claim. This area of the law is fairly complicated and complex and typically involves some of the more sophisticated areas of litigation in eminent domain law.