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Virginia DOT Verdict Reversed
Following up on our post here on the Ramsey v. Commissioner case, the Virginia Supreme Court recently reversed a jury verdict in favor of DOT that would have required the owner to repay a portion of the initial offer monies. The Court ruled that it was error for the trial court to have precluded the owner... Read More
Will the Latest New Jersey Supreme Court Property Rights Decision Revive the Redevelopment Market?
Last week, a divided New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that condemning agencies do not have to prove that properties within an area “in need of redevelopment” have a deleterious effect on the surrounding area in order for those properties to be taken via eminent domain. The 3-2 majority opinion, authored by Justice Barry Albin, concluded... Read More
Townsend v Pierre: Expert Opinion Fails Where Contrary to Undisputed Record Evidence
The New Jersey Supreme Court decided Townsend v. Pierre on March 12, 2015. It was not a condemnation case but is relevant to any civil litigation involving expert witnesses. The case arose out of a terrible accident involving a motorcycle and an automobile. The motorcycle t-boned the car and the motorcyclist died. The decedent’s estate brought... Read More
Stick to the facts (but first, know them!)
In Gravers v. Scotch Plains Township, a residential tax appeal, we are reminded of the importance of hiring appraisers with experience in tax appeals and to ensure that they are familiar with the facts relevant to the subject property and the comparable property sales. Here – on appeal from a judgment of the County Board... Read More
Drive-By Appraisals "Approved" in New York!
Property owners have won a battle in a long simmering dispute in New York over pending real estate tax appeals. The case was reported in the BuffaloNews.com. In short, eight property owners with pending tax appeals against the City refused to let the City’s appraiser in their homes in connection with the preparation of the... Read More
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for West Orange Taxpayer
Last week, the Tax Court of New Jersey dismissed a multi-year tax appeal filed by a commercial property owner in the Township of West Orange that challenged the assessment on a retail property in that municipality, which assessment had been set by a town-wide revaluation in 2011. The plaintiff WKJ Realty Co., Inc. relied upon... Read More
North Carolina Court Finds "Map Act" Filing Equates to a "Taking"
Under North Carolina statute, once the department of transportation files a map depicting a future taking, “no building permit shall be issued for any building or structure or part thereof located within the transportation corridor, nor shall approval of a subdivision . . . be granted with respect to property within the transportation corridor.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 136-44.51(a).... Read More
Contaminated property is worthless (almost)
In an opinion that has been approved for publication, the New Jersey Tax Court has ruled that for purposes of real property taxation, a heavily contaminated property warranted only a nominal assessment. In Methode Electronics, Inc. v. Township of Willingboro, the subject property is a small parcel improved with a 6,800 square foot concrete slab... Read More
Griepenburg v Township of Ocean: Inverse Claim Denied For Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided a case brought by property owners to challenge a municipal ordinance that “down-zoned” their property. (A full copy of the decision is here). The property owners lost before the trial court, won before the Appellate Division, but lost in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held: “We... Read More
Presumptions Foil Municipality
In another case where a municipality took an appeal to trial and rested on the assessment, the strategy backfired as the tax court ruled in favor of the taxpayer. We have written before (Township Punts, Loses at Trial and on Appeal) about municipalities forcing an appeal to trial only to rest on the presumption of correctness. ... Read More
