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Archive | 2023

April 6, 2023

Lowballing African-American Farmers in a $5.6 Billion Project

A largely rural African-American farming region in western Tennessee is subject to condemnations for a series of road connections and widenings that will link a 4,100-acre Blue Oval Ford campus to a new Exit 39 off of I-40 to accommodate throngs of workers and truck traffic.  Ford Motor Company broke ground on its future $5.6 billion electric truck plant a year ago. The state is seeking 35 separate tracts of land by purchase or eminent domain.  Thus far the state has taken possession of 15 tracts.  The path of the… read more

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Posted in Eminent Domain, Just Compensation, Lowball Offers
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April 4, 2023

Getting The Shaft

Daniel F. Sciannameo, MAI, one of New York City’s best appraisers and a Staten Island resident, brought an article published in the Staten Island Advance to my attention.  The article states that Staten Island residents have had to pay what amounted to a monthly tax to New York City for a subway line that was never built. The article written by Tom Wrobleski provides the history of the train line.  He wrote, “As originally conceived in the 1920s, the train line would have run from St. George to Mariners Harbor,… read more

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Posted in Abandonment of Project, Condemnation, Staten Island Subway
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March 30, 2023

Opposition to the Summit Pipeline

In our last blog, “We Don’t Care What the Stinking Pipeline Carries,” March 21, 2023, we reported on the Summit Pipeline which would carry millions of tons of carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to be injected into underground rock formations.  The 2,000-mile pipeline would carry carbon dioxide across five states to underground storage in North Dakota. There has been a lot of opposition to the project from property owners and other groups.  Farmers have concerns about what the gas will do to the soil and water.  Another concern is that… read more

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Posted in Carbon Dioxide Pipeline, Condemnation, Summit Pipeline
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March 21, 2023

We Don’t Care What the Stinking Pipeline Carries.

Remember the Keystone XL pipeline?  Welcome to the Summit pipeline.  Instead of oil, the pipeline would carry millions of tons of carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to be injected into underground rock formations rather than dispersed as pollutants in the air.  The 2,000 mile pipeline would carry carbon dioxide across five states to underground storage in North Dakota.  If built, it would be the largest carbon dioxide pipeline in the world. The idea behind the Summit pipeline is to take carbon dioxide from ethanol plants, where it is a byproduct… read more

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Posted in Carbon Dioxide Pipeline, Condemnation, Environment, Pipelines
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March 16, 2023

Racial Bias in Valuation of Residential Homes

We previously wrote an article in the New York Law Journal, “Diversity is Needed to End Racial Bias in Home Appraisals,” NYLJ December 27, 2022. We stated, the answer to appraisal bias on racial grounds is to expand opportunities for Black real estate professionals.  In a statement issued on September 20, 2020, the Appraisal Institute, the largest professional association of real estate appraisers reiterated its efforts to expand opportunities for aspiring appraisers to help combat bias in valuation. Less than 2 percent of appraisers identify as Black.  The appraisal industry… read more

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Posted in Racial Bias, Valuation
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