Guide to Florida Eminent Domain Law

• Eminent Domain Process
• Your Property Rights
  1. Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act
  2. Littoral Property Rights in Florida
  3. Florida Law Prevents Eminent Domain Abuse
  4. High Speed Rail & Eminent Domain
  5. Eminent Domain for Water Level Projects
  6. Inverse Condemnation and Loss of Access
• Challenging the Government
• Eminent Domain Definitions
• Getting Full Compensation
• Hiring an Eminent Domain Attorney

Inverse Condemnation and Loss of Access

Eminent Domain Lawyer Serving all of Florida

Inverse condemnation is when you have to sue the government for a de facto taking of your property without compensation. In other words, if the government were to simply build a road across your property without paying you for the land that was taken, you could file an inverse condemnation lawsuit to receive compensation. Most cases of inverse condemnation are not as clear as that, and often involve more subtle aspects of your land and its use, such as incidental flooding or changes in access to your land.

Determining whether you have suffered a taking for you can receive compensation is difficult. This page contains some basic information about Florida eminent domain law, but the best way to determine whether you may be able to file an inverse condemnation lawsuit is in a consultation with a property rights lawyer. Please call 800-914-8661 or email the Florida Property Rights Law Firm for a consultation today.

Access to Property Is a Right

You have the right to be able to access your property. Being able to freely access your property is an essential part of ownership. If you lose access to all or part of your property, even temporarily, you can receive compensation with an inverse condemnation lawsuit.

Another issue is the convenience of access, especially for commercial properties. For commercial properties, if the government changes the access route to the property and the new route is ultimately unsuitable to the purposes of business traffic, the business owner may be able to receive compensation for this government taking.

Convenience and Traffic Are Not Rights

However, Florida courts have clearly delineated that if the basic right of a suitable access is maintained, other limitations of access or traffic are not considered takings and cannot receive compensation. For example, if a business park sits at the intersection of two state highways and enjoyed convenient access to both highways, but as a result of government action only enjoys access to one highway, this cannot be compensated. The business still has reasonable access to a public road.

In addition, Florida courts have asserted again and again that traffic is not a property right, though the amount of traffic that passes by a business may significantly impact the value of the property. Even if the Florida DOT diverts 90% of traffic off the road that abuts your property, reducing your drive-by business and significantly reducing the value of the commercial property, this cannot be compensated with an inverse condemnation lawsuit.

We Fight for Your Rights

During your consultation, we will evaluate the situation you are facing to determine whether it entitles you to compensation with an inverse condemnation lawsuit. If so, then we will fight for full compensation in your case to ensure your property rights are respected.

To learn more, please contact the Florida Property Rights Law Firm for a consultation today.