Eminent Domain?

[rebel-son]

I think eminent domain goes against the concept of the third amendment "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

It seems the idea of the amendment is a man's home is his castle. Eminent domain flies in the face of that.

As an FYI there are many idiots out there who think the "evil rich conservatives" were the ones on the supreme court who went for eminent domain. The reality is that the liberal justices with kennedy where the ones who allowed it.

 

[Dave70968]

Rebel-son, go read the Fifth Amendment. Eminent domain is explicitly authorized.

 

[pritch]

Lawyer up. Now. Time is not your friend here and they may be trying to run out the clock on you.

 

[Osage48]

Is it possible the new road will improve the value of your property?

 

[Honeybee]

If they offer you any money then take it! they will take your land one way or another, maybe get them to give you a new driveway or sidewalk, whatever you think will improve your land.

 

[rebel-son]

Rebel-son, go read the Fifth Amendment. Eminent domain is explicitly authorized.

They why did it take four communist, atheist, anti-American justices and one RINO to decide it?

Yes The 5th covers part of it, but many times eminent domain is not giving people "fair value" and further it was supposed to be for "public good" but not it has been used by private companies.

THis is more of my opinion as it can be interpreted different ways, but I don't think our founded intended it to be used the way it was ( except for the native American removals they did)

 

[Sanford]

Get a current appraisal and an estimated appraisal of what your property will be worth after the change. If it's less, they owe you the "fair market value" difference, and are also responsible to restore the condition of any of your remaining property damaged in the process - i.e., if there's a fence on that side now, there should be a fence on that side when they're done. You should also get an agreement from the commissioner / appraiser for a permanent reduction of the assessed value for your county ad valorem taxes. In other words, they can take your property but they're responsible for making you whole to the extent possible.

As a last resort if you don't think you're getting anywhere with them you can mention you're considering asking for a temporary injunction based on the short notice you were given so that you have have time to have your property appraised, photos made, legal descriptions checked, survey corners marked, etc. - anything you think you might justifiably need to have done that will slow their process down - but again, last resort only, and works best if you already have a lawyer on speed dial.

(disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, I just used to fish with one.)

 

[dennishoddy]

Bottom line, get an attorney, that is familiar with your situation. Your likely not going to stop it, but you might as well extract some money.

 

[Shadowrider]

Do you own the minerals on your parcel? If you do, I'd try to sell them a perpetual right-of-way. I'm not sure how eminent domain works in Oklahoma but I'm thinking they are going to get all rights to whatever they take from you. With a right-of-way they are only getting "use of the surface".

If you go in to talk to the commissioner make it known up front that you aren't against the project, but that you have every intention to keep your sub-surface rights. And I think that by law they have to compensate you at fair market value for whatever they get, if you own the minerals, do not forget this! You can get an idea on this by checking with the tax assessor's office and see what the rate is for you area, but this is going to be for the surface rights only. It's kind of hard for the county to argue against what they already have on their books. You just need to call around and get an idea on what the mineral value is. Once upon a time it was roughly 3 to 5 times per acre what oil and gas leases are going for per acre. But I'm not sure about now and it varies by area anyway, so find someone knowledgeable in your area.

Bottom line is that whether you own minerals or not you have to be compensated and if they don't want to play fair, like said by others, get a freaking attorney!

 

[shooterdave]

It's probably going to depend on what the state has in legal easement rights on that particular road. They are different for roads with different designations. The easement will be from the middle of the road, out. It is probably 33' from the center of road.