Taking

Temporary Regulatory Takings Do Exist in California!

Given the maze of procedural and substantive hurdles involved, property owners rarely succeed with regulatory takings claims. Even when owners do win, it is yet more uncommon for courts to award damages, instead allowing the...more

CFC Grants Summary Judgment in Takings Case on Motion for Reconsideration

Anaheim Gardens v. United States involved plaintiffs who filed suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims claiming that the Government effected a taking of their contractual right to prepay government-insured mortgages on...more

Chrysler Dealers File Brief Opposing Government’s Takings Appeal

Nearly 150 former Chrysler dealers whose franchises were terminated as part of the Government’s TARP restructuring of Chrysler today filed their brief opposing the Government’s interlocutory appeal of their taking case in the...more

CFC Rules That Date of Taking is When Government Sells Cattle, Not Impounds Them

In Martinez v. United States, the plaintiff claimed a taking by the federal government of his cattle when the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture sold several hundred head after seizing them for allegedly...more

CFC Rules That Res Judicata Defeats Government Argument That No Property Interest Exists for Purposes of Takings Law

In Simonson v. United States (April 4, 2013), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims considered whether the Government’s argument that the plaintiffs did not have a compensable property interest for purposes of a takings claim...more

Court Certifies Class Action in Takings Case Arising from Government’s Takeover of AIG

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims recently agreed to certify a class in a takings case, Starr International v. United States. Starr involves claims by shareholders of American International Group (AIG). Their lawsuit...more

Ninth Circuit Holds Takings Case Must Proceed Through Tribal Court

An eminent decision out of the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals is not a common occurrence. A Ninth Circuit eminent domain decision dealing with intangible property is even less common. Yet, on April 26, 2013,...more

Accounting Firm Sues Fifth Circuit for Takings of Fees

On March 3, 2013, Marcum LLP, a professional services firm that specializes in forensic accounting and financial litigation support services, filed a Fifth Amendment takings claim in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for the...more

Arkansas Game and Fish Back in Federal Circuit After Supreme Court Ruling

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States is before the Federal Circuit again after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit’s prior holding that government-induced flooding must be permanent for a taking...more

CFC Dismisses Takings Claims Based on Allegations of Government Wrongdoing

In Meschkow v. United States, the plaintiff, an attorney, argued that that Government had taken his property without just compensation when it disclosed the contents of an Order to Show Cause that had been sealed as...more

Would a Ban on Fracking Constitute a Takings?

Fracking is all the rage these days, a means of increasing domestic energy production by injecting fluid into cracks that exists in rock formations to open them up and allow oil and gas to flow out and be collected. There is...more

Regulatory Takings: Monks v. Rancho Palos Verdes Revisited (Again)

For those of you who have followed Nossaman's blog since the very early days, you'll recall our coverage of a significant regulatory takings case, Monks v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes. The 2008 California decision received...more

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Horne v. USDA

Over the past several months, we've been following some of the recent takings cases that have made their way up to the United States Supreme Court. So where do things currently stand?...more

Just Compensation Clause of the Fifth Amendment is Alive and Well in Guam

The Territory of Guam has only a non-voting Delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives and no Electoral College votes for the U.S. President, but the Just Compensation clause in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution...more

Follow Up on IRWA/Appraisal Institute "2012 Eminent Domain Year in Review" Presentation

For those of you who attended the joint meeting today between Chapter 1 of the International Right of Way Association and the Appraisal Institute, we promised to post a cheat sheet that reminds you about the cases associated...more

Federal Circuit Defines Relevant Parcel for Penn Central Takings Analysis

Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit held that a single parcel owned by the plaintiff was the relevant parcel against which the impact of the Corps of Engineers’ denial of a § 404 wetlands dredge and fill permit is to be...more

Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ESA Fifth Amendment Takings Claim

On February 27, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Fifth Amendment takings claim based on the finding that the claim was "not ripe." The claim is unusual because it arose in...more

Recent Developments In Utah Condemnation Law (2012)

In This Issue: - Utah Department of Transportation v. FPA West Point, et al., 2012 UT 79 (Utah Nov. 20, 2012) - Utah Department of Transportation v. Admiral Beverage Corporation, et al., 275 P.3d 208 (Utah...more

Valuation Disputes Centering on Severance Damages and Highest & Best Use

Below are some updates on California projects have turned to eminent domain to complete right-of-way acquisition. They involve issues that are somewhat typical in condemnation proceedings: disputes over severance damages and...more

Ninth Circuit Upholds Denial of Compensation for Access Impairment

Earlier this week, in an unpublished decision (pdf), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of compensation for construction that altered a point of access to an existing business. (Wardany v. City of San Jacinto (9th Cir....more

Interesting Valuation Dispute in Caltrans Eminent Domain Battle

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the owner of Silveira Ranch are involved in an interesting valuation dispute stemming from Caltrans' acquisition of part of the ranchland needed for Highway 101...more

What is the "relevant parcel" in a regulatory takings case?

In Lost Tree Village Corporation v. United States, the Federal Circuit addressed this question head on, concluding, to the surprise of no one, that the answer will largely depend upon the unique facts in each case. ...more

Florida Supreme Court Upholds Legislation Requiring Public Employees To Contribute To Retirement Accounts

In a 4-3 decision in Scott v. Williams, No. SC12-520 (Fla. Jan. 17, 2013), the Florida Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutionality of a 2011 law, Senate Bill 2100, requiring Florida’s public employees to contribute...more

Iligan v. Ungacta

Motion For Leave To File And Brief Of Amici Curiae The National Federation Of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center;...

One of the biggest dangers of not providing adequate constitutional protections for private property is that public officials can misuse their power to take property for private gains. Government actors, after all, have an...more

Horne v. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Brief For The CATO Institute, National Federation Of Independent Business, Center For Constitutional Jurisprudence, And Reason...

Long-time California raisin farmers Marvin and Laura Horne have been forced to experience firsthand the costs that America’s regulatory state imposes on entrepreneurs, especially innovative members of the agriculture...more