Justia Real Estate & Property Law Opinion Summaries

The Kanawha County Commission is a member of the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority, which owns and operates Yeager Airport. At the behest of the FAA, they began a project to remove a hill in Charleston's Coal Branch Heights neighborhood. The Commission wanted to acquire the 10-acre “Nutter Farm” to deposit material removed from the hill and purchased a two-thirds interest, paying $58,333.33 for each one-third interest, then filed a condemnation petition against the third owner, Gomez. The court determined that the Commission’s stated purposes were a proper public use and appointed condemnation commissioners, who valued Gomez’s share at $33,335. The court permitted the Commission to deposit $33,335 and granted immediate possession. Following discovery, the court struck the testimony of Gomez’s expert, struck Gomez’s claims, and granted the Commission summary judgment. The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed in part. The court upheld the determination of public use; the holding that any enhancement or depreciation in value caused by the project for which the land was taken must be disregarded in determining market value; and striking Gomez’s expert. The court erred in striking Gomez’s “claims” as a sanction for her failure to appear at her deposition; in taking judicial notice of the commissioners’ report on the value of the land; and in entering summary judgment. Gomez has a right to testify to the value of her interest in the property on the date of the taking by the Commission. View "Gomez v. Kanawha County Comm'n" on Justia Law

Plaintiff brought an action for unlawful detainer against Defendant. The circuit court granted relief and ordered Plaintiff to pay Defendant $50,000 for the cost of a log cabin that Defendant was required to vacate. Plaintiff appealed, arguing that the circuit court erred by determining that she would be unjustly enriched if she did not reimburse Defendant for the cost of the log cabin. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the circuit court did not err in granting relief for unlawful detainer; but (2) because the pleadings suggested that Defendant incurred costs greater than $50,000 in the erection and maintenance of the log cabin, the circuit court’s order valuing the log cabin home at $50,000 must be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings to determine the correct amount Defendant is entitled to recover from Plaintiff. View "Ward v. Ward" on Justia Law

Billy Hoosier, Jr. mistakenly placed a modular home on a parcel of land owned by Heartwood Forestland Fund IV, LP. Heartwood filed a complaint seeking declaratory relief to inform its ownership of the tract of land at issue and an ejectment order for the removal of Hoosier’s modular home. The circuit court entered an order directing that Hoosier receive title to the portion of Heartwood’s parcel encroached upon and that Heartwood receive from Hoosier the fair market value thereof, less Hoosier’s improvements. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Hoosier’s modular home must be removed from Heartwood’s property and relocated at Hoosier’s expense, as that Hoosier’s modular home was not an improvement or benefit to Heartwood’s tract, and Hoosier’s failures concerning procedural matters precluded him from any relief. Therefore, Hoosier was entitled to neither a conveyance of title from Heartwood nor compensation for alleged improvements to Heartwood’s property. View "Heartwood Forestland Fund IV, LP v. Hoosier" on Justia Law