One issue that continues to be litigated around the country is the extent to which an appraiser is liable to a borrower for a negligent appraisal prepared for a lender. This issue was recently addressed by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
In Adams v. DeWitt, 2014 WL 2609974, a purchaser of a property allegedly …
Two D.C. Council committees advanced legislation allowing for the use of eminent domain in the construction of a $300 million professional soccer stadium in Washington, D.C. The bill will now go before the full council for a vote on Tuesday. While the legislation allows for eminent domain to be used to acquire the land, Mayor-elect…
One frequent issue in eminent domain and other valuation cases is the admissibility of appraisals obtained by a party other than the appraisal they intend to actually use. For example, in a case that will be heard by the VA Supreme Court, VDOT had two appraisals in an eminent domain case. VDOT chose only to…
The City of Hartford has used its power of eminent domain to assemble land for a stadium. The Hartford City Council approved a $350 million plan to build a minor league baseball stadium for the New Britain Rock Cats. However, it does not own all of the land necessary for the stadium. The City has…
Jon Stewart used eminent domain debates to criticize Republicans over their support of the Keystone Pipeline in a recent Daily Show. In his usual method, he juxtaposed statements by Republicans decrying the use of the power of eminent domain and supporting its use for the Keystone Pipeline project.
The Show’s use of this topic shows…
Mortgage Daily has reported that there was no quarterly change in the risk of mortgage fraud, according to the 2Q 2014 National Mortgage Fraud Risk Index published by analytics firm Interthinx. However, the risk of Valuation fraud was up for the quarter.
The mortgage fraud risk index, which is based on an analysis of loans…
The city of Hackensack, N.J., has asked the NJ Supreme Court to determine whether a municipality seeking to condemn property must expressly find that the property is “blighted” in order to meet the constitutional eminent domain standard. It seeks to overturn an Appellate Division ruling that rejected the city’s plan to condemn two properties on…
The PA Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal in a Mercer County eminent domain case. The case involves Mercer Area School District’s attempt to condemn property that borders school grounds to extend a parking lot and build an emergency access point. The School Board first attempted to condemn land in 2010. However,…
The New Jersey Appellate Division recently held that Hoboken cannot designate an 11.5-acre site in the city as an “area in need of rehabilitation,” which had allowed it to implement a redevelopment plan. It found that the Hoboken City council misinterpreted the appropriate statute. The Appellate Division held that it was unclear whether the council…
The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled that a condemning authority cannot unilaterally dismiss a condemnation action after the special master has rendered an award. In Dillard Land Investments LLC v. Fulton County, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 583 (Case No. S13G1582, decided July 11, 2014), Fulton County filed a petition for condemnation for a library development …
