FAQs
The questions Florida property owners ask most often, answered plainly.
Educational only. These answers describe general Florida principles. They are not legal advice and do not account for the facts of your property. Confirm any deadline, statute or figure with a licensed Florida attorney.
The power of government, and of certain authorised bodies, to take private property for a public purpose on payment of compensation.
The state and bodies the legislature has authorised, including the Department of Transportation, counties, municipalities, school boards, water management districts and certain utilities.
Eminent domain is the power. Condemnation is the court proceeding through which it is exercised.
You can decline an offer. Where the taking is authorised and serves a public purpose, declining moves the question of compensation to court rather than stopping the acquisition.
Article X section 6 requires full compensation rather than the narrower formulations used elsewhere. On a partial taking it directs attention to the effect on everything you keep, not only the strip acquired.
The reduction in value of the property left behind after part of it is taken, established by valuing the property before the taking and the remainder afterwards.
Section 73.071(3)(b) allows business damages in defined circumstances, including that the business has been established more than five years where the taking occurs on or after 1 January 2005. Most states allow nothing for this.
Section 73.091 makes the condemning authority responsible for reasonable costs of the defence, and section 73.092 governs attorney fees, calculated on the benefit obtained for the owner.
Yes. Section 73.015 requires a good faith attempt to negotiate before suit, with a written offer and the appraisal behind it. It is a starting position.
Presuit negotiation under section 73.015, with a written offer supported by the appraisal the authority relies on.
Chapter 74 allows possession and title in advance of final judgment against a deposit sufficient to fully secure and fully compensate those entitled.
For state agencies, counties and cities, the petitioner estimate of value. For private entities, double that amount.
Section 73.071 puts value, severance damages and business damages to a jury where the parties cannot agree.
It varies with the project and the valuation. Do not rely on a general timeline. Confirm any deadline applying to you with a licensed Florida attorney.
Section 73.014 prohibits the use of eminent domain to eliminate nuisance, slum or blight conditions and declares those purposes invalid.
Section 73.013 restricts conveying condemned property to private entities, with defined exceptions such as utilities, public infrastructure and transportation.
Where a public body has taken or damaged property without a condemnation proceeding, inverse condemnation is the route owners use. Raise it promptly and in writing.
Tell us what is happening with your property and we will point you to the resources that fit.
Get Help