What happens when a condemnor’s agent approaches you?
To begin, once a project is started and your property is identified as one that will be impacted, you can expect to be contacted by an agent of the condemnor. It is the role of this agent that I would like to touch upon in this entry.
The job of the “right-of-way” agent is to attempt to negotiate with landowners and secure as many properties as possible along the project prior to the filing of condemnation cases with the courts. While most of these agents are straight shooters, it is important to remember when dealing with them that they work for the condemnor and do not work for you.
These agents are usually the ones that will present you with the written offer and many of them will offer to negotiate on your behalf with the condemnor. Be wary of this. At this stage, they are basically negotiating with themselves as they have been told what they can settle a case for. Additionally, and just as importantly, often times a condemnor will only allow you to make a single counter offer before filing suit to condemn your property. Therefore, you want to make sure that you maximize every opportunity to receive the highest amount of compensation for your taking and the counter proposed by the agent might not accomplish that. Again, their goal is to secure the highest number of parcels at the lowest possible price before a condemnation case is filed.
During the conversations with these agents, they will often ask you a series of questions about the value and use of your property, or they will ask you to provide certain information like leases or tax records or protests. What information is safe to give them? What should you withhold? There is no hard and fast rule to answer those questions as each property and situation is unique. Many times, the information you provide will hurt you later on should your case go before the special commissioners or to trial.
The bottom line to remember is that they do not represent your interests.
Because the condemnor has people working on their behalf from the very start, you should too. You need to have an attorney that specializes in condemnation cases help guide you through the process. Oftentimes, as is the case with my firm, the lawyer will offer to review the offer made by the condemnor free of charge in order to help you make the best decisions in this very difficult time. Remember, the earlier a lawyer is brought in on your case the more beneficial they can be throughout the process.