OCA Blog
March 14th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Files Amicus Brief in Trails Act Case to Uphold Legal Precedent
Owners’ Counsel of America, along with four other national property rights groups recently filed an Amicus Brief challenging the U.S. government’s request to revisit a property owners’ takings claim based on the Trails Act. The groups’ brief noted that several of the court’s rulings dating back two decades established a clear precedent on the matter which the government was clearly seeking to overturn. Established precedent holds that the Trails Act gives rise...
Read MoreMarch 14th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Members Win Multi-Million Dollar Verdict on Behalf of Property Owner
A North Carolina jury awarded a property owner $5,084,000 earlier this week for the taking of his partially redeveloped hotel. Amar Patel was represented by the Cranfill Sumner LLP attorneys George Autry and Jeremy Hopkins, who are also members of Owners’ Counsel of America. The trial lasted six days with the jury ultimately deliberating for approximately 50 minutes. The department initially offered Mr. Patel $244,825 for the partial taking...
Read MoreMarch 6th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Joins in Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Home Equity Theft Case
Geraldine Tyler, age 94, owed Hennepin County $2,300 in unpaid property taxes on her Minnesota condominium. When that small amount ultimately generated $12,700 in fees, the County seized her condo and sold it to pay the taxes and fees. By the time the condo was sold for $40,000, Tyler’s total debt came to $15,000. But the county did not return the excess $25,000 to Tyler. Instead, it pocketed the...
Read MoreFebruary 28th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
Mike Rikon Writes About Urban Renewal and the Assault on Black Neighborhoods
In his recent article written for the New York Law Journal and entitled ‘Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods,” OCA member Mike Rikon speaks of how interstate highways, many of which were built to serve white suburban commuters, “were shoved through black neighborhoods, causing surrounding blight and pollution.” Mr. Rikon says these actions were fueled by the Federal Housing Act of 1949, which authorized cities to use eminent...
Read MoreFebruary 27th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Member Dan Manning Represents Property Owners Being Relocated Due to Flooding
OCA’s Iowa Member, Dan Manning, is now representing several property owners in Cedar Rapids who are losing their homes because of past floods and fears about future flooding in their neighborhood near the riverfront area. Calling the takings “above and beyond” the usual scenario, Dan Manning explained the difficulty his clients faced in finding replacement property. “These are their homes, they’ve been there and they’re very unique in their...
Read MoreFebruary 16th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Awards Crystal Eagle to Sonia Eaddy and Nicole King
At Owners’ Counsel of America’s Annual Dinner in Austin, TX, the Crystal Eagle was awarded jointly to two extraordinary women. Sonia Eaddy is a homeowner and community activist, and Nicole King is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County. The award was given in recognition of their tireless efforts to save the historic black neighborhood of Poppleton, an area in west Baltimore that has been...
Read MoreFebruary 16th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
OCA Announces Two New Primary Members from North Dakota and Oklahoma
Owners’ Counsel of America is pleased to announce the selection of two new Primary Members. Derrick Braaten from North Dakota is the owner of Braaten Law Firm and Kim Ellis Ritchie from Oklahoma is the owner and founder of Ritchie, Rock & Atwood. Both men practice in the areas of business, agricultural, and real estate law, with a heavy emphasis on eminent domain cases, predominantly (if not exclusively) on...
Read MoreFebruary 16th, 2023 — In OCA Blog
Announcing Toby Prince Brigham OCA Scholar Shelly Vallone
Owners’ Counsel of America is pleased to announce that Shelly Vallone, a third year law student attending William & Mary Law School, has received the Toby Prince Brigham OCA Scholarship for 2023. “Shelly received a glowing recommendation from Robert Thomas, her Property Rights professor at William & Mary,” says OCA Executive Director, Leslie Fields. The Scholarship was created to honor OCA’s founder, Toby Prince Brigham. It is designed to inspire the...
Read MoreDecember 23rd, 2022 — In OCA Blog
OCA Member Randy Smith Wins Lack of Necessity Challenge For Property Owner in Detention Pond Project
In Lafayette City-Parish vs. Bendel Partnership, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Louisiana ruled in favor of OCA Member Randy Smith, when it sided with his client that LCP lacked the prerequisite necessity to take the property by eminent domain for a detention pond project. Agreeing with the trial court’s findings based on an extensive evidentiary hearing, the Court ruled that the Parish had acted arbitrarily,...
Read MoreSeptember 28th, 2022 — In Uncategorized
Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference Starts with Great Student Program Today
Today, an excellent Student Program started off the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference at William & Mary law school. Named in recognition of Toby Prince Brigham and Gideon Kanner for their lifetime contributions to private property rights and their efforts to advance constitutional protection of property, the conference began in 2004 and continues to this day. The conference is designed to bring together members of the bench, bar, and academia...
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