Eminent Domain: Getting Noticed

Municipal attorneys routinely oppose any prerogative writ action filed beyond the 45 days permitted in the Local Redevelopment Housing Law (LRHL) 40A:20-1 et seq. In order to challenge a municipal action, a property owner must file a prerogative writ suit within 45 days of the action of the municipality declaring the property to be within “an area in need of redevelopment.”

This presupposes the property owner has received appropriate notice pursuant to the Local
Redevelopment Housing Law. As the law presently exists, those notice requirements are
deficient: There is no requirement, for instance, to alert the property owner that the action by the municipality could result in condemnation by eminent domain. If the words condemnation or eminent domain were in the notice, they would surely get the property owner’s undivided attention in the post-Kelo environment.

Download the PDF of Eminent Domain: Getting Noticed which appeared in New Jersey Lawyer InRe Magazine last week.