Congratulations to attorney W. Nathan Meloon, who recently secured a full dismissal of code enforcement charges brought against the owners of an agriculturally zoned property in Palm Bay, Florida. This outcome is a meaningful win not only for our clients but for agricultural landowners across Brevard County who may face similar challenges. The case required […]
An eminent domain case usually starts before the case is filed in the courts. The state agency or the private company that has given the power of Eminent Domain through the Florida Statutes will usually contact the landowner and try to negotiate a purchase price for the property well in advance of the government or […]
Under the American rule, each party to a lawsuit is required to pay its own attorney’s fees and costs unless a contract or statute states otherwise. One creature of statute that is available to shift attorney’s fees is the Proposal for Settlement. Another facet of the Proposal for Settlement is that it provides a way […]
Eminent Domain Case Filing Before an Eminent Domain case can be filed and served against a property owner, the governmental or quasi-governmental entity taking the land, also known as the condemnor, must follow several requirements. The condemnor must have the authority to take land via eminent domain, have a public purpose for the taking and […]
Florida is one of the only states in the U.S. that has a statute that gives a cause of action to a property owner when the state or local government takes an action that reduces the value of a property. This occurs by interfering with an existing use or a vested right without that government […]
Eminent Domain The purpose of an eminent domain action is to compensate the property owner properly for the property that the government is taking for public use. It is important to understand the different ways that the property that will be taken is valued. There are three main methods that real estate appraisers customarily use […]
August is approaching, and along with everything else that is currently impacting our lives, that means your local property appraiser will be mailing out proposed property taxes (TRIM Notice). Last year, I wrote an article about the process for challenging the property value appraisal of your property before the Value Adjustment Board. Last month, the […]
Many individuals wish to pass their property down to their heirs without probate. One way to do this is with a life estate deed where the owner retains possession of the property while they (or another person) are alive, and then another person becomes the fee simple owner of the property. However, this type of […]
In Florida, there are two types of hearings that a local government can have. Both of those decisions carry different standards of review and different methods of conducting these hearings. These hearing types are legislative and quasi judicial. It is important to note that the form of the local governmental decision does not control whether […]
