Inverse condemnation is a term typically used to describe the legal action filed by an owner against an entity with the power of eminent domain for an indirect taking of a property right. It is a bifurcated proceeding where a taking of the property right must first be declared by a judge.
When the government adversely impacts a citizen's private property rights to such a degree that the property owner loses an essential element of those rights, then a "taking" may have occurred.
The government may take property directly by instituting eminent domain proceedings, or may take property indirectly by damaging it to such an extent that it is in effect "taken."
The owner's remedy for this type of indirect taking is the filing of an "inverse condemnation" action against the government agency that caused the harm.
Inverse condemnation is an action by an owner against the government to recover the value of the property that has been indirectly taken, even though no eminent domain has been sought by the government.
Our law firm has handled numerous inverse condemnation actions on behalf of property owners.
Our experience on inverse cases includes damages to private property for flooding, denial of development permits, denial of drilling permits, loss of access, enactment of "maps of reservation" that prohibited the owner's use of its property, shutting down an owner's business on the basis of alleged nuisance, and condemnation blight.
