Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Eminent Domain is the government’s power to take
private property
• “Condemnation” is the procedure through which the
power of eminent domain is exercised
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Power existed prior to the Constitution
– An inherent aspect of sovereignty
• 5th Amendment limitations
– “nor shall private property be taken for public use without
just compensation.”
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• U.S. Constitution
• State Constitutions
• State Statutes – tell us…
– Who?
– For what?
– How?
• Case law
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Transformation of urban decay a.k.a. “blight”
• 5th Amendment – “public use”
• “Public purpose”
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Can take for public use
• Can take to eliminate blight
• Can take to eliminate land oligopoly
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Can you take a nice residential neighborhood and give
it to a big drug company?
• Can you condemn solely for economic development?
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Economic revitalization
Employment
Property values
Tax revenues
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Suzette Kelo and her “little pink house”
Real Property – Eminent Domain
• Other issues
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Inverse condemnation
Regulatory taking
Valuation
Taxation i.e., recognition of gain or loss
• IRC§1033 Involuntary conversion