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eminent domain

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zipper3wolf

Junior Member
Washington state. The city I live in used eminent domain to acquire a building for the city hall. Since the building acquired was not condemend and used in its present condition, was this legal? The purpose was to gain the property for a much lower price, the mayor even stated this in a letter to the public. I am not the property owner or related in any way to the former property owner, just an outraged citizen.
 


ETex2

Member
I am NOT a lawyer, but I am a real estate professional (certified appraiser) who deals with eminent domain as an appraiser and expert witness in court. My question is "are you sure that the property was actually taken in eminent domain proceedings?" This sounds highly unusual. In my states (and I believe in all states since there are federally established guidelines on this matter), property must be acquired at fair market value. Usually the condemning authority obtains an appraisal and makes an offer based on this price. The property owner can also get an appraisal (which is typically higher). The negotiated price is often derived by averaging the two values. Courts and court appointed panels seldom award a different amount. And it sounds like this mayor was not too smart in making his statement.
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
zipper3wolf said:
Washington state. The city I live in used eminent domain to acquire a building for the city hall. Since the building acquired was not condemend and used in its present condition, was this legal? The purpose was to gain the property for a much lower price, the mayor even stated this in a letter to the public. I am not the property owner or related in any way to the former property owner, just an outraged citizen.


**A: yes it was legal. There is no law that requires government to go through condemnation action if the private property owner negotiates and sells the property to the government.
 

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