Good news for property owners in Minnesota. Last month a bill which proposed changes to eminent domain authority use by public service corporations passed the MN House and Senate by overwhelming margins and was signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty. This bill also allows for attorney fee recovery in some instances when the condemning authority is a public service corporation. For a little background on these changes we look back on the law that first addressed attorney fee recovery in eminent domain cases, M.S.A. § 117.031.
That law, which represented a major victory in protecting property owner’s rights to get fair and just compensation, allows for property owners to recover attorney fees, litigation expenses, appraisal fees and other costs if the judgment for a final award in an eminent domain proceeding exceeds the last offer made by the acquiring authority by 40 percent or more. In addition if the final judgment is between 20 and 40 percent greater than the last offer made by the condemning authority, the court has discretion in deciding whether to award these court related expenses to the property owner. However in this law, an exception was made for public service corporations, no attorney fees could be recovered, no matter how much the public utility company shortchanged the property owner in their final offer. This exception was particularly unfair as public utilities generally have smaller takes of land. For instance if a utility company took part of your backyard to install some new power lines, and only offered $2,000, when the fair and just compensation would actually be $10,000, after fighting in court, paying for appraisals and attorney fees, you as the property owner would likely see little financial gain, perhaps even be at a loss, despite the court ruling in your favor.
This new bill signed into law on April 30th removes the public service corporation exception, giving more incentive for public utilities to act in good faith, and protecting property owner’s rights to receive fair compensation in the taking of their property. Public utility companies will now be held to the same standard as other condemning authorities. Kudos to those involved in the passage of this bill, including property owner Russell Martin, who initially contacted his representatives about the public utility loophole.
Tags: Minnesota
