Supreme Court Victory for Georgia Property Owners
“The Owners’ Counsel of America applauds a recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling affirming that condemnors should not have an inequitable advantage over landowners in eminent domain proceedings.
A recent unanimous Supreme Court of Georgia opinion favorable to property owners, reversed a Georgia Court of Appeals decision and reinstated a $5,187,500 award of just compensation for the Petitioner-landowner.
In Dillard Land Investments, LLC v. Fulton County, Georgia, case No. S13C1582 (decided July 11, 2014), the Supreme Court found that the Georgia Court of Appeals erred in its ruling allowing Fulton County to unilaterally dismiss a condemnation action after entry of the special master’s award of compensation. The Court concluded that the relevant event determining the time at which a voluntary and unilateral dismissal by the government is no longer allowable “is when the condemnor knows what the value award will be.” In the Dillard case that event occurred before the County moved to dismiss the action.”
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