Posted on 06/24/2005 12:53:19 PM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide
After the extinguishment of quaint 18th Century notions like "property rights" and "public use" by the Supreme Court, "Just compensation" is not only the next thing to go from the Constitution, it is already effectively dead in consequence of this SC decision. It should not take an Alan Greenspan to figure this out.
The value of a piece of property is based on supply, demand and location, location and location in free and fair open market bidding. Demand for urban real estate in particular comes from competition among real estate investors and individual homeowners. But if developers and investors can acquire properties through government emminent domain action and no longer have to entice owners to sell by bidding up prices, then they are effectively eliminated from the demand side of the classic economic equation and the value of moderate urban single-family residences and small businesses will be determined entirely by sales between individuals on the residential market. So-called "just compensation" based on that market value will decline from present levels accordingly.
Beyond that, locations which were an advantage to homeowners are now a disadvantage. The closer one is to large developments, the more likely it is to be condemned for adjacent development. Being close to shopping and other services has been an enhancement to home values. But who is going to pay a high price to live in, maintain and improve a house whose condemnation is only a matter of time and whose investment value for sale to a developer is nil? At the same time, property taxes will have to rise as a percentage of valuation to stay even, driving more residents out even in advance of the bulldozers.
I can see as this settles in that formerly valuable urban real estate would decline almost to the level of rural acreage.
I'd be against this if I was a developer too....what's to stop the city or redevelopment district or Whatever from condemning your development?
The type of redevelopment agency condemnations that were sanctioned by the Supreme Court this week have been going on around the country for years. I've had problems with it myself, but the Court was really confirming the status quo. I don't think your observations about the effect on property values is valid.
Real estate profits are essentially reserved for developers and investors who can sell shopping malls, office buildings and condominiums to each other and charge confiscatory rents from their leaseholders. The individual homeowner, particularly current homeowners, will be cheated out of any opportunity to cash in on his investment.
The only thing positive that I can see in this terrible ruling is states with legislatures that have any common sense whatsoever, will race to put bills through, preventing such abuses. I expect my state, Georgia, to do the right thing.
Good points.
Real estate values are rarely static. Even in places where prices are depressed, historically they can be expected to recover and rise, often exponentially, spurred on by unforeseen and unanticipated developments.
Savvy developers know full well that today's appraised value is not tomorrow's. And they would not be interested in obtaining a private citizen's property at today's appraised value unless they were reasonably certain it will increase in value significantly and rather quickly.
Often in these deals the local government also gives the developer special tax concessions hoping to offset and exceed that loss of revenue with increased tax revenues from other spigots. A private citizen does not get these sweet deals.
The best hope a less powerful private citizen has is to to hold out for as long as he possibly can until the developer is willing to pay a price that more fully compensates the private citizen in light of what the developer expects to make on the property, all factors considered, including tax breaks and incentives. This is almost certainly a sum well in excess of the price the private citizen would receive via condemnation proceedings.
The Kelos decision gives local governments a green light to front chips to and assist private powerful well-connected developers in this high-stakes poker game with less powerful private citizens.
Listen! Did you hear that popping noise? That was the housing bubble bursting.
But now condemnation proceedings will be so much cheaper that the developer can make a take-it-or-leave-it offer and go almost straight to eviction, keeping all the bennies.
I think this is already going on to some extent. What I would like to see more than anything is to allow those whose property is condemned to be able to recover attorneys fees if they prevail in their challenges to compensation offered.
How many state and local lawmakers are in debt to real estate interests in their locale? In local situations, particularly municipalities, the real estate interests are the political and economic power, and the legislatures are all too often their puppets.
Gun grabbing has been going around the country for years, too. You don't think that a SCOTUS decision codifying full-on gun-grabbing would drastically increase the number of guns seized?
Not in my state (Utah). We outmaneuvered them here and passed legislation preventing it. But people in states such as Connecticut will see it happen just as you outlined.
We all need to remember that state constitutions are important too. Kelos should help make this point clear.
I do -- but it's something I just started paying attention to recently. I think you're absolutely right -- our state Constitutions are as important as the federal one (at least if you believe in states' rights).
I worry that this ruling with lead to a "Carl Drega"-type result with respect to developers, local officials, and the judges that abet them.
Whoever we are
Wherever we're from
We shoulda noticed by now
Our behavior is dumb
And if our chances
Expect to improve
It's gonna take a lot more
Than tryin' to remove
The other race
Or the other whatever
From the face
Of the planet altogether
They call it THE EARTH
Which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right
'Cause we behave the same...
*We are dumb all over*
Dumb all over,
Yes we are
Dumb all over,
Near 'n far
Dumb all over,
Black 'n white
People, we is not wrapped tight
Nurds on the left
Nurds on the right
Religous fanatics
On the air every night
Sayin' the Bible
Tells the story
Makes the details
Sound real gory
'Bout what to do
If the geeks over there
Don't believe in the book
We got over here
You can't run a race
Without no feet
'N pretty soon
There won't be no street
For dummies to jog on
Or doggies to dog on
Religous fanatics
Can make it be all gone
(I mean it won't blow up
'N disappear
It'll just look ugly
For a thousand years...)
You can't run a country
By a book of religion
Not by a heap
Or a lump or a smidgeon
Of foolish rules
Of ancient date
Designed to make
You all feel great
While you fold, spindle
And mutilate
Those unbelievers
From a neighboring state
TO ARMS! TO ARMS!
Hooray! That's great
Two legs ain't bad
Unless there's a crate
They ship the parts
To mama in
For souvenirs: two ears *(Get Down!)*
Not his, not hers, *(but what the hey?)*
The Good Book says:
*("It gotta be that way!")*
But their book says:
*"REVENGE THE CRUSADES...
With whips 'n chains
'N hand grenades..."*
TWO ARMS? TWO ARMS?
Have another and another
Our God says:
*"There ain't no other!"*
Our God says
*"It's all okay!"*
Our God says
*"This is the way!"*
It says in the book:
*"Burn 'n destroy...*
*'N repent, 'n redeem*
*'N revenge, 'n deploy*
*'N rumble thee forth*
*To the land of the unbelieving scum on
the other side*
*'Cause they don't go for what's in the
book*
*'N that makes 'em BAD*
*So verily we must choppeth them up*
*And stompeth them down*
*Or rent a nice French bomb*
*To poof them out of existance
*While leaving their real estate just where
we need it*
*To use again*
*For temples in which to praise
OUR GOD*
*("Cause he can really take care of
business!")*
And when his humble TV servant
With humble white hair
And humble glasses
And a nice brown suit
And maybe a blond wife who takes
phone calls
Tells us our God says
It's okay to do this stuff
Then we gotta do it,
'Cause if we don't do it,
We ain't gwine up to *hebbin!*
(Depending on which book you're using
at the time...Can't use theirs... it don't work
...it's all lies...Gotta use mine...)
Ain't that right?
That's what they say
Every night...
Every day...
Hey, we can't really be dumb
If we're just following *God's Orders*
Hey, let's get serious...
God knows what he's doin'
He wrote this book here
An' the book says:
*He made us all to be just like Him,"
so...
If we're dumb...
Then God is dumb...
*(An' maybe even a little ugly on the side)*
frank zappa...dumb all over
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