The eminent domain process starts with the property owner receiving a letter in the mail stating that your property is going to be used for public use, extending roads, putting utility pipes, overhead electrical wires, etc.
The government is going to engage an appraiser and the appraiser is going to appraise the part of the property that is going to be utilized for public use. From that appraisal, the government body is going to offer you some amount of money.
It is up to the property owner if they accept the offer if they feel they are being rightly compensated.
If the property owner disagrees with the money offered, the government body will file a lawsuit against you for your property, and they will deposit the amount of money that they offered in the Clerk of Court’s office in the county where your property is located.
You can get the offered amount disbursed to you and still fight them for a fair amount of money, however, you have to answer their lawsuit and you would have to present your case on why do you think that your property is worth more than what they have offered with a help of an attorney.
Your attorney will make sure that they bring in people that they work with like local experts in appraisal, land planning, zoning, etc.
With help of these experts, your attorney will be able to build a case for you as to why your property is worth more than the government has offered you in the first place.
This process of you getting the right value for your property may take a while however, you need to have local knowledge of local zoning requirements, watershed requirement, etc. that are unique to your area.
This would have a big impact on what you can do with your property after expropriation.
Once your attorney puts the case together as to why your property is worth more than they originally thought, then your attorney would mediate with the state and hopefully reach an agreement on the right amount for the property.
If they do not come to an agreement then the case will be handed over to the court where the jury will decide.
Thanks for mentioning that eminent domain starts with a letter in the mail. I have a small piece of land behind my home that I use for storage. I want to hire a lawyer to help me protect it from eminent domain.
My friend has a property and doesn’t use it for a long time and likes to hire. I want to hire a private property condemnation lawyer to assist her in protecting it from eminent domain here in Florence, SC. Thank you for pointing out that eminent domain begins with a letter in the mail; I make sure to mention this to her.