In many cases, property owners become aware that eminent domain proceedings will affect their property, but owners are often surprised to learn how long the process takes.  Major government projects can take years of budgeting, engineering, and planning before the first parcel is ever taken by eminent domain. Early in this process, the construction plans…

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Businesses all over Florida use signs and billboards to advertise their brands and products to the consuming public.  Private landowners can make money by granting easements to outdoor advertising companies, which construct billboards on property nearby major interstates.  Some property owners may wish to advertise their own businesses with signs…

Location, location, location.  People pay big money for property with open air, great lighting and incredible views.  Sometimes a government project infringes upon those valuable qualities so much that it is deemed a taking. If they assert eminent domain in Florida, the owner is entitled to full compensation.  Likewise, if the government takes away an…

“Full compensation” is designed to make the property owner whole at an eminent domain proceeding. It’s as if the condemnation never occurred and the owner voluntarily sold the property.  But what if the condemning authority takes something less than the entire property? Any taking of an interest in your property—no matter how slight—still requires the payment…

Owners of waterfront property have “riparian rights” to access the navigable water and the right to a waterfront view in addition to their rights to use their upland property.  Docking rights often are an area of dispute, not only for waterfront property owners seeking dock permits from the government, but also between neighbors…

Many times, mineral and subsurface rights are more valuable than the land or buildings that sit on top of them. Florida landowners facing eminent domain governmental condemnation must be compensated for the full extent of their ownership, including mineral and subsurface rights.
The Power of Eminent Domain
The Fourth and Fifth Amendments are designed to…

Property owners often install fixtures to their land without knowing that their land will one day be seized through eminent domain governmental condemnation. In Florida, property owners must be compensated for everything that is seized through eminent domain, including installed fixtures.
Requirements of Eminent Domain
At the federal level, the power of eminent domain is…