Eminent Domain Report

On November 18, the Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute is hosting its 42nd Annual Litigation Seminar.  This full-day event features a great panel of speakers, and has been approved for eight hours of both Appraisal Institute and Office of Real Estate Appraisers ("OREA") continuing education credit. 

It is being held at:
Embassy Suites Hotel
11767 Harbor Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92840 
714-539-3300

I will be speaking at 3:45 p.m. on "New Cases & What’s Happening in Eminent Domain."  I understand that I am the last speaker of the day, and that you will ...

This is the question John G. Ellis, MAI addressed at the IRWA Chapter 1 Fall Seminar last Tuesday. Mr. Ellis divided his presentation into four distinct questions:

1. What is the current state of the market;
2. How did we get to where we are now;
3. What are the trends looking forward; and
4. Have we hit bottom yet?

The picture painted by Mr. Ellis [PDF] was befitting of the Halloween season, and in some cases was downright depressing. Most submarkets are demonstrating reduced sales volumes, lower rents, higher cap rates, and lower sale prices. Mr. Ellis demonstrated how a 1.25% increase in the ...

Yesterday's IRWA Chapter 1 seminar in Los Angeles was a great success, with an outstanding panel of speakers.  The morning started with an informative presentation by Dave Guder of Southern California Edison about the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project and renewable energy sources in general. 

The liveliest discussion, however, centered around a narrow issue that triggered some surprisingly animated responses.  The issue involved a condemning agency's use of one appraiser for the initial eminent domain offer and deposit of probable compensation, and another appraiser ...

On October 20, Chapter 1 of the International Right-of-Way Association is holding its Fall Seminar.  The event is being chaired by one of my partners, David Graeler, and it has a good line-up of speakers. 

One of the more interesting discussions may be the 10:50 session looking at eminent domain from both an agency and a landowner perspective.  The speakers for that session are Michael Thornton, from my firm's San Francisco office, and Gary Kovacic, from Sullivan, Workman & Dee in Los Angeles ...

There was an interesting discussion at the IRWA Chapter 57 seminar last Friday, and it’s one that I have seen play out many times in many contexts, so I thought it was worth a short discussion here. The issue was when the illegal gift of public funds doctrine comes into play in the context of an eminent domain case (the text appears in Article XVI, section 6 of the California Constitution). The concept is simple: The government cannot give away public funds to a private person or company. The eminent domain scenario is all too frequent: A proposed settlement is for more than the property’s ...

The Inland Empire chapter of the International Right-of-Way Association is holding its 2009 Education Seminar and Fundraiser (Casino Night) on October 16, 2009, at the Eagle Glen Golf Course in Corona.  The event starts with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and goes through a raffle at the end of the casino night at 9:45 p.m.

The education program is entitled "Looking Forward in a Backward Right of Way World," and it features Bruce Norris of The Norris Group, talking about foreclosures, followed by three moderated panels, one on acquisitions, one on relocations, and one on eminent domain.

One ...

I attended the IRWA Chapter 1 (Los Angeles chapeter) lunch meeting today, and listened to my partner, Rick Friess, speak about the Pitfalls of Prejudgment Possession [PDF]. The most lively part of the discussion centered on the requirement that condemning agencies offer the property owner $5,000 to obtain his or her own appraisal, and whether the agencies can condition that money on anything. There was clear agreement on the fact that to date, no case has interpreted the requirement, and that there is at least some ambiguity about what, if any, conditions may be imposed.

Typically ...