Eminent Domain

In the United States, when the government wishes to seize privately held property, the exercise their right of eminent domain powers in order to procure it. Some states prefer to use the word 'appropriation', but essentially the process is the same. Other countries, such as the UK, Australia, and New Zealand call the practice 'compulsory purchase or acquisition'. Eminent domain is a right of the government to acquire privately owned property from a citizen, or their rights in a property with appropriate financial consideration. The permission of the citizen is not required, and the purpose of the seizure is not relevant.

In many cases, the U.S. government, for use by the government or for public utilities or railroad and highway creation exercises their powers of eminent domain. At times, the government might seize a property for public safety issues, such as when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought an entire mining town in 1992. The ZIP code was revoked and all of the buildings were condemned because a mine fire has been burning continuously under the town since the early 1960s.

Since the American days of the colonies, common law has stipulated rules governing eminent domain. During those early days, any land that was vacant was taken without payment. Once the Constitution was being written, patriots such as Thomas Jefferson stepped up and voiced strong opposition to the feudalism ownership of England. In the end, the moderate compromise was settled upon and the law was written to express the rights of persons who owned private property included compensation for their land as well as requiring the land to be for "public use".

When a property is to be compensated for in the acquisition of eminent domain, the fair market value must be offered. The price should reflect what a normal real estate transaction would in an assumed regular sale. While this seems to be extremely fair to the private owner, critics of this approach state that there are many downsides as well, such as when a business is claimed under eminent domain and the owner is unable to relocate to a similar type of location. A few states do provide for at least some of the businesses losses, but not many. This leaves a great number of owners unable to recover their losses, and if they try to sue for adequate compensation, they are responsible for their own attorney's fees and court costs, making a lawsuit less than appealing in most situations.

In 2006, President Bush delivered Executive Order 13406, which limits the federal government's power to take properties for the sake of advancing economic interests to individuals for which the property was taken. While this is encouraging, local and state governments with help of federal monies carry out most eminent domain seizures.