Receiving an eminent domain notice in the state of Georgia can be extremely upsetting, especially if the property in question is also your home. If you find yourself in the situation of your land being threatened to be taken away, you may wonder if there is anything you can do to fight back and keep your property. Here are a few legal challenges to a proposed eminent domain action that landowners can use.
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Does the Condemnor Have the Authority to Take Your Land?
Eminent domain allows the government to take private property under certain conditions. In reality, however, the government does authorize private parties to exercise eminent domain on the government’s behalf and for their benefit. In many cases, you can challenge whether the government has exercised its authority properly and if the party attempting to exercise eminent domain was properly granted authority. If they didn’t, then the court might invalidate the attempted exercise.
Challenging the Idea that the Seize is For a Public Purpose
To take private property through eminent domain, the government must have a public purpose, and the authority who is seizing the land must provide the landowner with a fair compensation. If a landowner can show that the proposed project doesn’t fulfill the public purpose requirement, the landowner may be successful in challenging the taking.
The meaning of public purpose in terms of eminent domain does not just include schools, hospitals, road, and other common government facilities. Courts have interpreted the public purpose requirement broadly through the years, even to the extent that the government has used eminent domain to take property from one private owner and give it to another for the purpose of general economic development.
Georgia Courts Will Uphold Most Attempted Exercises of Eminent Domain
In most cases where eminent domain is trying to be overruled, the court sides with the seize and it remains valid. In result, getting as much compensation as possible for the property needs to become the priority.
It’s important to find and retain a Georgian eminent domain attorney as soon as you learn that your property is possible threatened. A lawyer can make sure you are fairly compensated and that you get treated fairly as you fight the eminent domain in court.
