Eminent Domain (Condemnation and Inverse Condemnation)
When a government takes private property through its power of eminent domain, the owner has the right to just compensation. That right is guaranteed in both the U.S. and South Carolina Constitutions.
Often a “taking” is a result of a governmental agency or a municipality rezoning property or simply diverting water onto private property. This is called an inverse condemnation. In addition, the definition of what is “just” compensation can get complicated.
Lawyers at Callison Tighe have decades of experience battling to force the government to pay their clients what their land is worth, both now and in the future.
Callison Tighe eminent domain lawyers can help property owners facing a variety of actions, including:
- Direct condemnation, when the government moves to take the property
- Inverse condemnation, when a government action deprives an owner of use of the property
- Permanent physical occupation, when a government action interferes with use of the property
- Regulatory takings, when government regulations are so onerous that the owner doesn’t have the full use of the property
- Partial takings, when there’s an impact on the property’s full economic value or productive use.
Some property owners will try to go it alone when they’re notified of a condemnation, and that’s often a mistake. Contact us if you have been notified your property is being condemned or if you think it might have been by the action or inaction of a local, state or federal government.
