A recent hot topic of the eminent domain world has been the “Map Act,” and as such it has been the topic of our last few eminent domain posts. A quick refresher: the Map Act was a law in North Carolina that allowed city governments to stake claim on land that they were planning on using for infrastructure without having to put any money towards that claim. Recently the Court of Appeals ruled that the Map Act was improper as it caused the value of the land claimed by the government to plummet. The Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals’ ruling.
Excellent! The ruling has been upheld, which is great news. Unfortunately, this process is not complete just yet, however. The next step is for the initial trial court to implement the Supreme Court’s decision. Superior Court Judge Joe Craig’s ruling on the case outlined a list of requirements that the state must follow. One such requirement was that the state begins hiring appraisers to value the properties and set aside the appraised value of that property for compensation. The state has 90 days to evaluate and deposit the money for the 9 properties that were brought into question during the case.
Even with this ruling, there are still some uncertainties. For instance, it is unknown whether this is a complete taking or not. In other words, does the state have to buy the property in full? Or is it just compensation for the decreased value of the property that the state has to pay? It’s going to take additional litigation and time to resolve these issues. In the meantime, homeowners will face additional hardship and uncertainty, and the state will owe more money. We’ll be sure to keep you informed as things progress. If you have any questions about eminent domain and your own property, don’t hesitate to contact us.
