Real Estate Law 102: Government Land Grabs

Real Estate/ Real Property:

The terms real estate and real property are used interchangeably. Many characteristics of this niche overlap with contract law. Real estate or real property encompasses the land and all which belongs to land such as houses, buildings, trees and minerals. It also includes the law, rights and benefits associates with the land. So real estate means ownership or use of land. It may be residential or commercial.

Real Estate Law:

Real estate law is a branch of civil law, it deals with who may own, possess and use the land. It includes different aspects such as selling, purchasing, and mortgaging, renting or leasing of land, real estate transactions and land tax.  

When The Government Claims Your Property?

When the state or federal government sues a property owner and takes his or her property as stake, then it is very important to gain the legal information you need to know. The landowner also needs to hire a seasoned litigation attorney in order to proceed.

It is crucial for the owner to know why the government taking his or her property. There are certain legal reasons for which the land is sued by the government.

Eminent Domain:

Eminent domain is the right of government to obtain private property for public use. The process through which government takes the private land is known as condemnation. This allows the government to take the private land for public use only and pay the base compensation to the property owner. As populations are growing cities, towns, roads and communication systems are also expanding. For this reason the public government usually needs to attain the private land.

Generally this process of eminent domain begins with a notice of government’s interest in taking your property. This will inform the owner that he or she will obtain the fair compensation. The government appoints an appraiser to determine the market value of owner’s property. For the valuation of property its size, location, type of building and what it is used for currently are all taken into consideration.

The owner now has now two options, either he or she accepts the government’s appraisal amount and releases the property or the owner can dispute the government’s appraisal’s amount and hire their own appraisal. The owner can also sue the government and show why he or she believes that the amount offered by government is not fair. Regardless of how the land owner responds he will need a law firm that knows what the law is at every stage.

There are also other possibilities of taking property by government.

Easement:

Easement is also a form of taking property such as utility easement. Easement is a temporary taking of property. For example, the government needs your property during a construction project. The government is entitled to make the owner a payment for use of that property.

To challenge the government’s ability to take your property is not an easy task. However, the owner can challenge the declared compensation amount. The owner can hire a legal advisor who will guide them, help make decisions and explore all the possible options.

The legal professionals below took time out of their busy schedule to contribute to the wonderful article you just read.