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Condemnation law

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lrforsberg

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan
Currently a piece of property that I own is being condemed by the state and I have been offered a sum of money for the property.The problem is that the property is contaminated. Does the state have any right to make me pay for the clean up? They know it is contaminated due to a clean up effort I made 10 years ago that yielded little result. I wish to settle the issue but I would like them to sign an agreement that they will not make me liable for an future clean up. They will not do this. I then would like to refuse to sell but that is impossible also. What are my rights?
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: Does the state have any right to make me pay for the clean up?

A: Yes, that is possible.


Q: I wish to settle the issue but I would like them to sign an agreement that they will not make me liable for an future clean up. They will not do this. I then would like to refuse to sell but that is impossible also. What are my rights?

A: If they take it by eminent domain, it's their baby. BUT, I would certainly advise you to get a real estate attorney's opinion on this one. It will be money well-spent.
 
You might want to find an environmental consultant as well; I am one, but not in Michigan. I had a client in a similar position. The state had appraised the property and estimated their clean up costs and deducted those from the appraisal that was what the client was offered. The problem was that the planned clean up was a fairly quick and expensive excavation with offsite disposal of contaminated soil.

I developed a long slow clean up plan that mostly relied on natural attenuation and I projected would take 20 years to clean up the property, my estimated cost was a lot less than what the state had estimated. The client and his attorney used the clean up plan I put together to advantage in negotiations with the state who needed the property much sooner. In the end the client did have to pay clean up costs, but they paid less.
 

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