Florida Eminent Domain Blog | Gregory W. Stoner

If you are in Florida, you are lucky to live in one of the states that has done the most to restrict government's power to simply take your property for arbitrary reasons. Florida has enacted many laws that protect your property from being taken for the profit of another person. It means that the government cannot be used to strong-arm you for the benefit of billion-dollar investors.

Here are some of the ways that Florida law helps you protect your property from eminent domain abuse.

Government Must Negotiate with You First

Florida law requires pre-trial negotiation before eminent domain proceedings are started. This means that you should be given an offer from a government entity and an opportunity to respond with a counter-offer before the government attempts to take your land by force.

There is no rule that requires the government must take your offer, or even a requirement that it consider it, but by requiring pre-trial negotiation it gives you an up-front warning, and it gives you a chance to make a reasonable counter-offer without hiring an attorney.

Government Can't Give Your Property to Private Owner

In Florida, the government is not allowed to give or sell your property to another private owner. This is one of the most egregious abuses of eminent domain, when the local government acts on behalf of investors who do not want to pay fair market value for your property and forces you to sell your property to benefit investors.

Land in Florida can only be taken for legitimate public use.

Government Can't Use Blight, Slum, or Nuisance as a Cover for Illegal Taking

Another way that eminent domain is abused for private profit is by declaring property as blight or slum so that it can be taken and sold to investors connected to the government. The rationale for a blight, slum, or nuisance label can be as little as a broken screen door, weeds that are too tall, a car on blocks, or a noise complaint. These rationales can be trumped up on almost anyone's property, allowing them to take it for a fraction of full compensation.

In Florida, taking property for these reasons is banned, and many property owners have been able to keep their land when these tactics were used.

If you live in Tampa or elsewhere in Florida and you suspect the rationale for taking your property is not a legitimate public purpose, you should seek the help of an eminent domain lawyer to force the condemning authority to justify its taking.

To learn more about eminent domain laws in Florida, please visit the website of the Florida Property Rights Law Firm today.