Navigation

Archive | Recent cases

June 15, 2015

Court Awards $10,100,000 on Eminent Domain Claim of Property in Staten Island

The Honorable Wayne P. Saitta, Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Kings County, recently issued a decision dated June 10, 2015, awarding Yeshivas Ch’San Sofer, Inc., a Claimant in an eminent domain proceeding, $10,100,000.00 as just compensation for its property.  The decision was issued after a three day, non- jury trial was held on October 20-23, 2014 in Kings County Supreme Court. Prior to trial the City had paid an advance payment of only $611,000.00, later increasing its valuation with a supplemental payment totaling $919,000.00 The property at issue… read more

By
Posted in Advance Payments, Appraisers, Highest and Best Use, New York, Offer & Compensation, Recent cases, Wetlands
Read more > 0

June 12, 2015

Lost Tree Village Corporation v United States

For those readers not familiar with the concept, the implementation of a wetlands regulation can constitute a regulatory taking and require that just compensation be paid pursuant to the Fifth Amendment. Wetlands cases can be complex, but generally fall into a few categories for analysis. . The first type is analyzed under Penn Central Transportation Co v New York City, 438 US 104 (1978). The Penn Central case utilized a three factor test to determine whether a regulation goes “too far” (meaning it would be considered a taking under the… read more

By
Posted in Recent cases, Valuation, Wetlands
Read more > 0

May 20, 2015

Blau Rock LLC v State of New York

The Hon. Thomas H. Scuccimarra authored an excellent decision recently in the New York Court of Claims: Blau Rock LLC v State of New York. At issue was the amount of interest due on the deposit of an advance payment owed to Claimant Blau Rock LLC (“Blau Rock” or “owner”) for the acquisition of a portion of its property in connection with the construction of the Palisades Trailway. The specific background of the case is as follows. Under Eminent Domain Procedure Law 304(A), when a Condemnor acquires property, it must make… read more

By
Posted in Advance Payment Agreement, Advance Payments, Eminent Domain, Litigation, New York, Recent cases
Read more > 0

May 13, 2015

The Second Higher Appraisal: Stop the Games and Produce it

A recent, unanimous decision of the Virginia Supreme Court held that a prior appraisal used for the payment of an advance payment should have been admitted in evidence as an admission. Ramsey v Commissioner of Highways, __ Va. ___ (Record number 140929). The  full decision of the Court can be read here. The facts were fairly simple. The Ramseys owned a parcel of land in the City of Virginia Beach. The Highway Department took a portion of the land for Route 264. Prior to the taking, the Condemnor valued the… read more

By
Posted in Advance Payments, Eminent Domain, Eminent Domain Abuse, Offer & Compensation, Recent cases, Sandbagging
Read more > 0

May 11, 2015

New York’s Tax Cap Statute and Recent Tax Certiorari, Eminent Domain and Exemption Cases

The Hon. Thomas A. Dickerson and John Mechman, Esq. have authored an excellent article published in the Westchester Bar Journal titled “New York’s Tax Cap Statute and Recent Tax Certiorari, Eminent Domain, and Exemption Cases. The article provides a synopsis of interesting and relevant cases decided in the 2014 calendar year by New York Supreme Courts and is available by clicking here. The first topic addressed in the article is New York’s tax cap statute, which was signed into law by Governor Cuomo on June 30, 2011. The statute provides… read more

By
Posted in New York, Recent cases, Tax Certiorari, Valuation
Read more > 0