21 Jun Supreme Court Allows Property Rights Plaintiffs to Go Directly to Federal Court
Written by NAHB
In a huge victory for NAHB and its members, the U.S. Supreme Court today reversed a long-standing land use decision that made it nearly impossible for property owners to bring a Fifth Amendment takings claim in federal court.
In 1985, the Supreme Court issued a decision, referred to as the Williamson County decision, that forced land use plaintiffs to first go through years of expensive state administrative and/or court proceedings prior to bringing a “takings” claim in federal court. Local governments would often use the decision to their advantage to tire out property owners. In addition, once a property owner finally filed a case in federal court, government defendants would use the prior state court decision as leverage to throw out the federal case.
The road to this victory has been the result of unyielding effort by the NAHB membership and staff. For more information, contact Tom Ward at 800-368-5242 x8230 or Devala Janardan at x8335.