Can the city take your home away?

Homes may be 'taken' for private projects
Justices: Local governments can give OK if it's for public good.

Now the taking of homes will not be limited "As for the good of the community" like it used to be, taken your home in the city will not be limited for the building of schools or hospitals.

Now your city home can be taken away for private companies and you will never get back the actual value of the land it sits on.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

This a blow to property owners if their properties are in prime land and with a high property value.

Anybody here with a home in a city with development all around?

It doesn't matter how old is your home if the city want it for private companies they are going to get it, and is nothing you can do about it.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

[edit on 23-6-2005 by marg6043]

I tell you what, that's outrageous.

The city I live in is growing gangbusters. Highrises are going up everywhere. They've torn down everything old.

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot....bop, bop, bop

I lived in a beautiful turn-of-the-century townhouse - the kind you see in the movies - nestled in an historic neighborhood in the shade of the skyscrapers for several years. Developers began buying up all the properties around us and tearing them down one by one. Ours was the last in the 'hood. Finally the guy who owned our property was bought out. Rather than restoring it and marking it historic - which it was/saw a picture of it in a book - they tore it down to build a bloody parking lot for the college. Ironically, that Counting Crowes remake came out right at the same time..

That place was great.

The little guy doesn't stand a chance in this society.

[edit on 6/23/05 by EastCoastKid]

It is called eminent domain and has bee a practice for some time now. It is more widely done to put freeways through but does actually happen at a local level to develop a community. You are supposed to get fair value but we all know what that means.

At a local level it is possible to gather and fight and prevent such an occurance. You are less likely to when if we are talking about highways going through.

Originally posted by Memorialday1999
It is called eminent domain and has bee a practice for some time now. It is more widely done to put freeways through but does actually happen at a local level to develop a community. You are supposed to get fair value but we all know what that means.

Yep. That actually happened to a couple I knew. They had the most beautiful land and creek w/a dam they built for swimming (Tequila Creek & Disneyland Dam). They cut that road right through the middle of it.

I feel that this new rule is going to target the remaining housing areas in cities, to get rid of them.

The problem is that even if your littler piece of land may be prime land for development you will never get what the land is worth.

I find the fact that private developers can get away with it disgusting.

My mother lives in Ferndale, MI, and so do her brother and his wife (Aunt Beth). Anyone who lives in Oakland County, Michigan, may have heard of Bethany Holland--that's my aunt-by-marriage. She founded the South Ferndale Homeowners' Association or something like that.

These relatives live in a part of Ferndale just a few blocks north of Detroit. The city wanted to demolish the area and put in parking or something equally stupid. Now here's the fun part--Aunt Beth had gotten a permit to make improvements on her house, come to find out that if your house is set to be destroyed they can't issue permits! Can you say OWNED? Needless to say, the city abandoned the idea of developing that land!

My aunt is forever running for one office or another as a Republican. I'm going to have her look into the Constitution Party.

I used to live in Ferndale myself. It's gone pretty well downhill in the 12 years since I lived there. I think I'm happier out near Amish country....

I love the city I live in. The old neighborhoods are very cool. Unfortunately, so many of the old homes and buildings that were built at the turn of the century and in the 20's are being systematically torn down. It reallysux.