Can a public entity be held liable for inverse condemnation when it fails to prevent another party from causing damage to private property? This one is pretty simple: the answer is no....more
We previously reported on the recent California Court of Appeal district split as to what standard of review should apply in utility takeover condemnation cases as it pertains to more necessary public use challenges, and...more
In California, the primary governing structure for condemnation suits is set forth within Title 7 of the California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP 1230.010, et. seq.), otherwise known as the Eminent Domain Act, which was...more
Join us in April for Nossaman's Eminent Domain Seminars! We will be hosting our Northern California seminar in Berkeley on April 8th and our Southern California seminar in Costa Mesa on April 15th.
These complimentary...more
4/1/2025
/ Appraisers ,
Best Practices ,
Cross Examination ,
Depositions ,
Diminution in Value ,
Direct Examination ,
Eminent Domain ,
Events ,
Expert Witness ,
Property Owners ,
Property Valuation ,
Relocation ,
Right of Way
Join us in April for Nossaman's Eminent Domain Seminars! We will be hosting our Northern California seminar in Berkeley on April 8th and our Southern California seminar in Costa Mesa on April 15th.
These complimentary...more
4/1/2025
/ Appraisers ,
Best Practices ,
Cross Examination ,
Depositions ,
Diminution in Value ,
Direct Examination ,
Eminent Domain ,
Events ,
Expert Witness ,
Property Owners ,
Property Valuation ,
Relocation ,
Right of Way
When water agencies provide water to customers, and that water causes damage to customer property, can water agencies face inverse condemnation liability? For quite some time, inverse condemnation liability appeared to be...more
2/25/2025
/ California ,
Environmental Policies ,
Government Entities ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Liability ,
Private Property ,
Property Damage ,
Property Owners ,
Public Utility ,
Utilities Sector ,
Water
Appraising a property being acquired through eminent domain involves a number of unique valuation rules, including highest and best use, larger parcel, date of value, and unique evidentiary restrictions on comparable sales...more
When a public agency acquires property for a public project, property owners have a constitutional right to receive just compensation. But what about the businesses that operate on the property – are they entitled to...more
When a property owner brings a regulatory taking / inverse condemnation claim based on a city or county’s zoning decisions, the owner often provides context and history, including public statements made by staff, board...more
Despite California’s record high levels of precipitation in 2023, water scarcity remains a pressing issue. Governments have turned to using the power of eminent domain to acquire investor-owned utilities in an effort to...more
Today, April 12, 2024, in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overruled more than two decades of California precedent, holding that legislatively established development impact fee programs must...more
A public agency’s acquisition of private property can sometimes trigger significant severance damages due to eliminating access, cutting off utility service, or taking a substantial portion of a property’s parking. As...more
With the frequency of wildfires and flooding, landslides are becoming more frequent throughout California. When public agencies have water pipelines located in hillsides, the situation presents the classic “chicken or egg”...more
10/11/2023
/ Burden of Proof ,
Causation ,
Eminent Domain ,
Evidence ,
Infrastructure ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Pipelines ,
Property Damage ,
Property Owners ,
Sewer Systems ,
Water ,
Water Districts
In California, when a government entity adopts a resolution of necessity to acquire property by eminent domain, that resolution typically “conclusively” establishes the requisite findings of public use and necessity. However,...more
UNITED STATES UPDATES -
Arkansas-
City of Sherwood v. Bearden, 2023 Ark. App. 67 (2023 Ark. App. LEXIS 68)-
Facts: Property owners filed an inverse condemnation action alleging the City had placed rainwater...more
In eminent domain cases, it is uncommon that right to take challenges are upheld, and when they are, it is typically a procedural deficiency that can be cured. It is even more unusual where a right to take challenge is...more
UNITED STATES UPDATES -
California -
Today’s IV, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2022 Cal.App. LEXIS 840 (2022 WL 5107251) -
Facts: A property owner who owned a hotel in Los...more
With all the recent storms in California, private property is bound to suffer impacts from storm water runoff, landslides, erosion and subsidence. Understanding whether the government bears responsibility for such damage is a...more
A recent article from Border Report, Tijuana residents holding out for more money, slowing construction of border crossing, caught my attention. Not only because we're advising on the border crossing project on the U.S....more
Despite undertaking due diligence, a buyer of real estate may miss pre-existing property damage or a public improvement that was installed without permission or right. Does the new buyer have a cause of action for a taking...more
Local government agencies sometimes enact short-term building moratoriums for certain areas to further assess changes in land use patterns or slow growth. Those moratoriums imposed across a large area usually do not...more
As we have previously discussed, downzoning (changing the zoning designation for property from a more intensive use to a more restrictive use) can possibly rise to the level of a regulatory taking, depending on each...more
Facts: The property owner alleged a per se taking and inverse condemnation in the expansion of a road that increased surface and stormwater runoff flowing under the property and ultimately a sinkhole in the parking lot. The...more
When the government forces a property owner to sell private property, it is usually done through an eminent domain action (a direct taking), and the government is required to pay just compensation. But what if the forced sale...more
Throughout all of the ups and downs in 2021, there have been multiple developments on the eminent domain front, including the special occasion where the U.S. Supreme Court heard a takings case. Outside of case law, 2021 saw...more