If you have found your way here, you have probably received some correspondence from your city, county, or state government, the Washington Department of Transportation, or some other governmental entity that your property is or will need to be acquired by eminent domain. You are probably pretty scared right now. That is okay. It can be a bit of scary process, particularly since it has probably never happened to you before. But while you are feeling scared it is also time to get proactive to either: (1) stop the eminent domain process all together; or (2) get the most money (I say the correct money) for your property. Below I'll give you some steps to follow so that you can make sure you are accorded your full Constitutional rights.
As I mentioned above, there are two separate problems to consider when facing Washington state eminent domain. First, is whether your process can be taken by eminent domain. The second is what the value of your property is worth - its fair market value. To need to determine the fair market value of your property so that just compensation can be paid to you, the government first needs to show that the property they are taking is for a public purpose or use.
Although you may have recently heard that the United States Supreme Court has weakened the requirements for finding a public purpose (the Kelo case), once that case was handed down states rushed to redefine public purpose under the state law. As such, Washington's eminent domain law's are much stricter, overall, than those of the federal government. This means if you feel like your land is not being taken for a true public purpose (often government's will try to take land under the guise of "economic development," wherein once they have your property they will sell it or lease it to a private developer who will construct condos or a mall on it) you may actually have a chance of having the court rule that the taking is not for a public purpose.
If you feel like your land is not being taken for a public purpose you should find a qualified eminent domain lawyer to help you.
Once you've determined that the taking is for a public purpose (or are satisfied that it is), then the real fun begins. If you are not familiar with the eminent domain process, now would be a great time to learn about it. Basically the government appraises your property, presents you with an offer of just compensation (and relocation benefits if they are taking your house or your business) and you can either accept their offer or negotiate for more money.
This is where a qualified professional is needed, and at least for the first phase of the process, at no out of pocket cost to you at all. When you talk to the acquisition agents (the government employees hired to negotiate the sale of your property) they will suggest that you hire your own appraiser to valuate your property. DO NOT HIRE AN APPRAISER TO VALUATE YOUR PROPERTY AT THIS STAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS. It is not to your benefit but to their benefit. At this point you have all of the leverage because you have the ability (with help) to examine their appraisal and determine its weaknesses. The money in eminent domain for you as a property owner is NOT made by getting your own appraiser but by showing WSDOT or Sound Transit or the City of Seattle how their appraiser messed up and you deserve more money.
Another thing about hiring an appraiser is that they are expensive, and unless they are experienced in eminent domain, they will not know how to valuate your property correctly. And once you do have an appraiser, the condemning agency will use its knowledge and experience to pick apart your appraisal, trying to bring down the value of your property. That is exactly what you do not want to do.
So, what is there to do? There are a number of eminent domain professionals out there who can help you evaluate the condemning authorities offer of just compensation for your property. And the best part is, this initial evaluation is paid for by the condemning authority! State statute requires any entity taking your property by eminent domain to pay up to $750 dollars for you to get their offer evaluated. This is great because it generally costs about that much for an offer to be evaluated.
What goes into an evaluation of an offer of just compensation of eminent domain? A lot actually. It starts with a thorough review of the condemning authorities appraisal (if you can get it - great general rule here - if your property is being taken by eminent domain always ask for a copy of their appraisal), including how they have characterized your property (commercial, residential, agricultural), what they relied on to make that determination, how much property they are taking, what your property was like before the taking, what it will be like after the taking, the appraisal method utilized (comparable sales, cost, or income capitalization) and any other factors they took into account. Generally this will give an overview of the condemning authorities determination of the value of your property. After the appraisal is reviewed, a discussion with you, the landowner, is in order. During that discussion we'll talk about all of the things in the appraisal, with a focus on the use of the property, the best use of the property, and any sales that have occurred in the area of property you think is similar to your property. A visit to the property is also usually very helpful. After that, it is important to find sales and information that are favorable to our view of how the property should be valued.
After all of the information is gathered and analyzed (usually it takes about two weeks), the next step is to respond to the condemning authority in writing, discussing any shortcomings in their appraisal and additional information we have. At that point, the condemners usually take a couple of weeks to evaluate and respond. Traditionally at that point a meeting occurs to try to settle on a price for the property. If an agreement cannot be reached after negotiation, then a trial is held to determine the just compensation you get (this is the point where you get an appraiser).
So, as you can tell, it is not necessarily a fun experience, but it can be empowering in the sense that you can have a say in what you are paid for your property. And you deserve that power. If your property is being taken by eminent domain in the state of Washington, don't wait expecting it to go away. Call someone that can help today, and begin preparing your side of the property valuation story.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
