What Is Eminent Domain?
Eminent domain is the power of the United States government, states, and municipalities to take private property for public use, following the payment of just compensation.
Eminent domain is a right granted under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Similar powers are found in most common law nations.
Private property is taken through condemnation proceedings, in which owners can challenge the legality of the seizure and settle the matter of fair market value used for compensation. The most straightforward examples of condemnation involve land and buildings seized to make way for a public project. It may include airspace, water, dirt, timber, and rock appropriated from private land for the construction of roads.
Eminent domain can include leases, stocks, and investment funds. In 2013, municipalities began to consider using eminent domain laws as a way to refinance underwater mortgages by seizing them from investors at their current market value and reselling them at more reasonable rates. Congress passed a law prohibiting the Federal Housing Administration from finance mortgages seized by eminent domain as part of the FY 2015 budget. But it is still an issue that could undermine the mortgage market.
What Is Condemnation?
Condemnation is when a government orders that a piece of property be vacated and kept vacant, due to some public purpose or concern. Condemnation can be temporary or permanent and may be done for a number of reasons. The two most common are due to the unsafe condition of the property or to carry out a government taking of the property under the legal doctrine of eminent domain.
- Condemnation is the legal process utilized by the government to order that a property be vacated.
- Condemnation may be used to enforce housing and safety codes or as part of a process to seize a property from the owners.
- Condemnation is often used in the eminent domain process to acquire property for public use such as highways, railways, airports, powerlines, and pipelines.
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