Yorktown Domain Case

[djd09]

YORKTOWN, Ind. (WTHR) – The city of Yorktown is hoping to break ground later this year on a new downtown development.

The only problem is they city needs to acquire several homes to make this happen.

Many of those homes are along canal street where some residents have resided for 20 to 50 years and they are not wanting to leave, which has the city threatening eminent domain.

Canal Street in Yorktown is kind of a quiet street with old houses that many people have called home for years.

People like Ruby, Jerry and Janice but it's Jerry's story that captured our attention.

https://www.wthr.com/article/yorktown-family-fights-eminent-domain

Still stealing property without just compensation.

 

[Zephyr999]

Emotional process for many...stealing? Can't agree with that notion given the Uniform Act and right of inverse condemnation afforded every property owner.

 

[djd09]

The U.S. Constitution says "just compensation".

146,000 is not just. So they have to force the owner to accept it, which is legalized theft.

 

[Zephyr999]

Yes, it sure does.

Are you familiar with how just compensation is determined and who makes the decision in cases where the two sides are at a standstill in negotiations?

 

[djd09]

All i know is the owner thinks that offer is not just. End of story.

 

[Zephyr999]

FWIW, appraisers are hired to assist the client agency in their determination of just compensation.

 

[djd09]

When Eminent Domain Is Just Theft
Say you buy a car. Drive it around for five years, get plenty of use out of it. Then one day you decide you paid way too much. You really should have paid half what you did. Or even less. So you go back to the dealership and say the car is worth less now, and you want a refund.

Think you’d get it?

Precisely. Yet this is just the kind of stunt the Virginia Department of Transportation is trying to pull on James and Janet Ramsey.

The Virginian-Pilot told the tale a few days ago. In 2009, VDOT took a chunk of the Ramseys’ property to build an on/off ramp for I-264. Through a process called quick take, VDOT obtained title to part of their yard. The transportation agency brought in an appraiser, who estimated the value of the Ramseys’ land and damages at just under a quarter-million dollars. VDOT put the money in an escrow account and moved forward with the project.

The Ramseys wanted more. The disagreement went to court and, as the trial approached, VDOT brought in another appraiser — who said the Ramseys were entitled to only around $92,000. So VDOT asked for the difference back. By then the Ramseys had withdrawn the original deposit and invested it, as they are legally entitled to do. They couldn’t pay the difference back even if they wanted to, because they don’t have $158,000 in spare cash lying around.

https://reason.com/archives/2014/02/17/when-eminent-domain-is-just-theft

Spinning numbers.

 

[Zephyr999]

I have to wonder, why didn't the Ramsey's hire their own independent appraisal?

Moreover, once courts get involved those decision-makers set the precedent...with some hokey outcomes based on best info presented during trial or mediation.

 

[djd09]

I wonder why they deposited the money if they didn't agree with number?

 

[berniek]

I have to wonder, why didn't the Ramsey's hire their own independent appraisal?

Moreover, once courts get involved those decision-makers set the precedent...with some hokey outcomes based on best info presented during trial or mediation.

The Owners have the right to their own appraisal IAW the Uniform Act and they don't pay for it. It usually is cheaper to settle above the appraised value to get the property, sometimes also paying for relocation cost. The owner can ask for a jury or judges trial.