The Louisiana Constitution prohibits governmental bodies and municipal corporations from taking or expropriating landowners’ private property “except for public purposes and with just compensation paid to the owner or into court for his benefit.” A landowner “has the right to trial by jury to determine whether the compensation is just” and “shall be compensated to the full extent of his loss.” Just compensation includes the appropriate amount of money, not only for the property that is actually, physically taken by the expropriating authority, but also for the damage to the remaining property that was not actually taken.
Many landowners simply accept the amount of money offered by an expropriating authority because they do not know their rights. If your property is taken for a public purpose and without your consent, you may challenge both the asserted public purpose for the taking and the amount of money or just compensation offered or deposited by the expropriating authority. If you successfully obtain at trial more money than the expropriating authority deposited as its estimate of just compensation for the property taken, you may also be awarded your attorneys’ fees, expert fees and court costs. Continue reading “Louisiana Expropriation Attorney”