A new cert petition filed earlier this week in a case from the Florida Court of Appeals that we've been following.
We've been following it because we filed an amicus brief when property owners sought cert review of an earlier decision by the same court which held the same thing: that the property owner subject to a quick-take had no property interest in the interest generated by the quick-take deposit. Remember in true quick-take jurisdictions like Florida, the condemnor is immediately vested with ownership and title of the property upon the deposit of estimated just compensation with the clerk of the court. Florida had a statute which allowed the clerks to pay a lion's share of the interest on the deposit to the condemnor.
This new cert petition challenges the second court of appeals decision, and sets out this Question Presented:
Whether an unconstitutional taking of a protected property interest occurs when the government seizes 90% of the interest earned on eminent domain registry funds that the government was required to deposit to take immediate possession and title to private land.
Stay tuned. We'll see if the Court is interested in this issue. We think it should be.
Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Mallards Cove, LLP v. Florida, No. ___ (Jan. 27, 2016)
