immenent domain

[grumpydasmurf]

I may have spelled it wrong but this is where the government can take away your property and give you "fair market value" in return.

Have any of you had experience with this and typically do they pay above or below what you'd consider fair?



I ask because the condo building I live in is about 60 years old. It's ready to be torn down. The large supermarket next door is old as well and WILL be torn down in about 3 years. This frees up 11 acres of land, not to mention the misc other aged buildings adjoining my property and the supermarket. This is all situated in the "downtown" area of an affluent suburb of Chicago.

The question I have is should I be buying land or selling what I already own? There is a commission meeting April 15th to discuss the downtown re-development.

[Rich]

I haven't had much dealings with this.. something to think about though.. Typically a government (city or otherwise) will not purchase the land or even develop it. Typically if it's going to be a government building they will hire a developer to do that and buy it out much like a mortgage over 20 years. At least that's what we've done on several projects for Denver.
Now if the government wants to put a mass transit system through the property they can invoke eminent domain and purchase the land.

[grumpydasmurf]

Rich, actually arounjd my area, one of our neighboring suburbs did buy land to sell to a developer. I guess some people didn't want to sell to the developer and the city really wanted the area re-developed.

As long as I know I have options.. I am going to the redevelopment meeting on the 15th of tghis month at the city hall. I am going to vote for the redevelopment and input my 2 cents.

Now the question is do I invest in purchasing more property? It's a gamble.

[Rich]

It's all a gamble :) - becomes more like building on speculation. Which can be very profitable though. Post what comes out of the meeting.

[grumpydasmurf]

April 15th.

[Dano]

We are currently doing a development site in SE Washington DC, of which the DC gov't owned. This particular area is not well suited for development due to crime, etc but we came in a presented an offer to the district to re-vitilize the area...kinda like the field of Dreams philosphy..Build it and they will come..well the district sold us the property, we develop it but they will be leasing the space on a 20 yr term. (We can't take all the risks). I've had one experience with eminent domain..was 1 12 story commercial building that the IRS was leasing from the owner..lease expiration came up..owner wanted this much..GSA (Gov't) wanted to pay less...well the Gov't will not be kicked out in the street so they acquired ownership via eminent domain clause and presto...they owned it. I got involved when GSA came to me (Thru back doors ..of course) and had me contact the owner(prior) because now they had to bid on operating and maintaining thier site. well to cut it short..I explained that they would eventually get their building back but now is the time to have them perform/pay for all repairs etc at their expense..they got it back after about a year...the answer to your ? is Fair Market Value..(sorry for being long winded)

[Dragon]

I may have spelled it wrong but this is where the government can take away your property and give you "fair market value" in return.

Have any of you had experience with this and typically do they pay above or below what you'd consider fair?


They met it.

Let me explain.

Many years ago the Federal government decided that the Buffalo River in N. Arkansas should become a national park. Well we owned a lot of acreage along that river, and back then it was valued at around $50 an acre.

We sold a few 5 acre lots on land sales contract for $500 an acre. In the process we established fair market value.

Guess how much we got for the rest of it.

$500 an acre.

The moral of this story is if you let someone else determine what fair market value is then don't cry when you are cashing your check.

[chuckbarris]

Hi...

I've been battling Eminent Domain in my city and became very aware of the issues surrounding it. From what I understand, it was used in the fifties and sixties in order to try to improve the condition of certain areas which were called "blighted." I don't want to argue that it was misued back then - it very well may have been. But I do know that since then, the tactic has been completely misused and taken advantage of by developers who want to make a quick buck of the labor of others. Now, there is a clause in the Constitution that says that no governing body may take away your property without due process and without just compensation. However, because certain local governments are hijacked by rich developes who enrich their campaign coffers, the due process is regularly infringed upon, and just compensation has become a joke. The way the process is run these days, you don't know it's on its way unless it's too late - thats your due process. Further, market value is often gerrymandered by those who's best interest is to have it as low as possible. Unfortunately, under the current law structure, the only defense is to hire a lawyer to argue your case that your home or business may have a value higher than what the local government is offering. Of course, by the end of a long and ugly legal process, IF you're able to get something closer to the actual market value of your home or business, you'll have to pay a significant chunk of that to your lawyer. In all respects, when imminent domain is used to the advantage of a private interest, it is utterly despicable.

If you really want to make a difference, what you need to do is get your neighbors together- those who will be directly affected, and those who will be indirectly affected - and come before the city council of your town to argue your case. Eminent Domain abuse is rampant throughout our nation, and it takes great vigilance to subdue such evil.

I don't hope to discourage you, only to inform you about whats going on in our nation. Go to any search engine, and type in "eminent domain abuse" and you'll get wayy too many sites to mention, detailing the many abuses.

I hope this has been helpful, and that you're able to perservere against the eminent domain thieves...

[Dayna]

My mother experienced eminent domain about 35 years ago. Her great grandfather passed down a bungalow in the sand off the beach. The state called eminent domain, cleared everyone out at "market value". My mother refused to leave and wouldn't sign the papers. The next week "there was a fire". To this day, a once beautiful summer get-away, multiple miles long of beach front property is now a big field of weeds. NEVER DEVELOPED AT ALL.

[RedneckRepairs]

what happens when the gvt doesnt bother with the legal process but instead basicly seizes 1 lot of 3 concecutive , plows underground utilitys across all 3 ect.. and then " finds they have made a mistake " ??

[barrydalive1]

Hmm, I would say probably nothing. Unfortunately it seems they can do whatever they want. Good luck anyway though.

[TheDoctor]

eminent domain is where you don't have a choice in the matter. And usually they offer you below "fair" market value or just below so you won't make the effort to sue over a couple thousand dollars. It's not usually a happy situation.

[TheDoctor]

eminent domain is where you don't have a choice in the matter. And usually they offer you below "fair" market value or just below so you won't make the effort to sue over a couple thousand dollars. It's not usually a happy situation.