It is important for Landowners and Business Owners to obtain an Attorney throughout the Eminent Domain Process. Unlike Real Estate Buyers, Government Agencies force you to sell. Government is not looking out for the Private Property Owner's or Business Owner's best interests. Retaining a qualified and experienced Attorney would assure your property rights are protected, and that the full fair market value is paid, and that all relocation expenses are paid for forced moves. In addition, Businesses that suffer a loss of goodwill must also be compensated for the loss; this goodwill analysis and proof is complex but can be very rewarding if prepared and presented effectively.

It is also important that the Attorney retained by the Private Land or Business Owner have substantial experience and qualifications in Eminent Domain Law. This area of law contains "traps for the unwary" that an attorney inexperienced in eminent domain or unqualified may miss, to the client's prejudice.

Government starts the process by identifying private property it believes will benefit the public's use more so than if the property remained privately owned. The Agency will send an Appraiser out to your property to provide an opinion as to a "fair" estimate of what your property is worth on the open market. The appraisal will form the basis for a "precondemnation offer" to the Owner. The Owner may get its own appraisal, for which the Agency must pay up to $5,000. If an Owner, Business or Tenant on the property is forced to relocate, it is entitled to relocation expenses which include moving and other costs of relocating to a new site. A Business that suffers a loss of goodwill caused by the take must be compensated for that loss. The steps in that process are generally summarized as follows:

A. public hearing is noticed wherein the Governing Body of the Agency (e.g., City Council, Board of Supervisors or High Speed Rail Authority Board) will take testimony, consider other presented evidence and consider adopting a Resolution of Necessity to proceed with taking the subject property by Eminent Domain. The resolution must be supported by findings based on evidence in the record. The findings that must be made are specified by the California Eminent Domain Law and consistent with constitutional criteria.

B. Once the resolution is adopted, the Government Agency may file a Complaint in Superior Court to take the subject property by Eminent Domain. Summons and Complaint is then served on the Property Owner who must file a formal document known as an "Answer" or "Responsive Pleading" in court and deliver a copy to the Condemnor Agency.

C. Thereafter, valuation experts (Appraisers and sometimes other experts) are typically engaged by both sides to determine, in the Experts' Respective Opinion, what the Agency must pay for (a) the part taken and (b) any damage to the part that remains under Private Ownership. Other experts may also be appropriate, such as engineers and/or land-use planning experts.

4. The Federal and State Constitutions guarantee the right of the Private Property Business Owner to a trial by jury. If the Eminent Domain case proceeds to trial, the determination of what just compensation should be awarded to the Landowner is made by the jury. The Agency that is taking the property must pay that amount.

There is no substantive difference. Eminent Domain is another word for condemnation and vice versa. They both refer to Government’s conditional power to take or damage private property. Condemnation Action is the lawsuit the Agency files in court against the landowner to take and or damage its property.

"Inverse Condemnation" is like an Eminent Domain action except it is brought by a Property Owner or Business Owner against a Government Agency that is taking or damaging the private property without the constitutionally-required payment of just compensation.

Yes. If you can prove that your land is not being taken for a “public use” then the Agency may not take it. And there are other, similar reasons for blocking an Eminent Domain Action. An experienced Eminent Domain Attorney would have the legal knowledge to explain to you whether the government agency's action meets one of these exceptions.