LAND COMDEMNATION---EMINENT DOMAIN

What do you do when your Government-Federal, State, City, School District or Public Utility notifies you that they want to take all or part of your property to build a road, power line, school, airport etc.?

We suggest that you find and use the expertise of a Lawyer who is experienced in dealing with these tough questions.  Our Land Condemnation lawyers are recognized experts with over 40 years of experience fighting for the land owner in Condemnation cases. 

Here is how it works:

1. The State, City or power company will notify you that they want your property, property you own privately, for a "public purpose" such as a road or power line.
2. You will be made an offer of a certain dollar amount and the person making the offer may try to persuade you that the offer is fair or even generous.  These Offers are typically "Low Ball" offers, but if you agree with the amount offered you can close the sale in much the same manner as any other sale of property.
3. However, if you believe that the offer is not fair and reasonable it is likely that you will need an experienced lawyer to represent you in trying to get a fair price for your land..
4. Once a property owner tells the Government agent that they don't accept the offer, the law allows the Government body to file a Condemnation case in Court.  In most instances the offer itself will contain threatening language saying that if you don't accept the offer a lawsuit will be filed to obtain the property.  These threats are meaningless because no Government agency can take your property until a Judge has heard the case and allows the property to be taken.
5. If the condemning authority wants "immediate possession" it will ask for an order by the Judge allowing possession before the case is fully heard and ruled on.  In such cases the Judge will order a bond to be posted in the amount of the last offer made to the property owner.  If there are no other claims on the property such as a mortgage, the amount of the bond can be given to the property owner right away.  Getting such funds does not affect the amount to be paid for the property as ruled on after a  trial to establish value.  The law requires the property owner to be paid
   "JUST COMPENSATION".   This amount is determined by a Judge or Jury after a trial that generally includes expert witnesses for each side.
6. Before the trial the parties retain experts in appraisal and often land planners or engineers.  After these experts prepare their reports and exchange them with the other side, it is common in Arizona to participate in some form of "Mediation".  The mediator tries to find a price and terms that all parties can accept. If this is successful, the case will be concluded as the result of Mediation.  If Mediation is not successful, it is expected that the parties will engage in "Discovery" which typically includes taking the deposition of parties and experts followed by a Trial.  Trials are before a Judge or a Jury as decided by the parties.  Either party can demand a jury and the demand will be honored.  If no jury is requested the trial will be before a Judge.  In Maricopa County it is not unusual for the parties to have to wait for 10-20 months from the time the case if filed before trial is held.
7. FEES and COSTS are generally a matter of interest to the property owner.  The most common arrangement between the Lawyer and Land Owner is a "Contingent Fee" in which the Lawyer is paid a percentage of the amount obtained after trial or settlement.  Generally the Lawyer's Contingent Fee is 25 to 40 percent of the recovery.  In this firm, we don't take any part of the amount offered by Government agency before we were retained.  We believe that the property owner had a right to that amount without any help from us.  Thus, our Contingent Fee is a percentage of the amount received after deducting the amount offered before we were involved.  We refer to this as "Value Added" and only ask for a portion of what we have "Added."   Of course, if the client wishes to have us work on an hourly basis rather than on a Contingent Fee basis we will gladly do so. "Costs" are such things as filing fees, deposition costs, expert witness fees etc.  Clients are responsible for payment of Costs although such Costs may be advanced by us until the case if completed.
8. The above, of course, is stated in generalities which may be somewhat different in any particular case.  However, the generalities do represent a typical experience for property owners.  If you have any questions please call Dan M. Durrant of this firm who has many years of experience in Condemnation litigation.