North Carolina Law
From project planning to final compensation, and the two statutory routes it can take.
North Carolina runs condemnation through two separate schemes. Chapter 40A of the General Statutes governs most condemnors, with Article 2 for private condemnors, Article 3 for public condemnors and Article 4 for just compensation. Chapter 136 Article 9 governs the Department of Transportation.
Knowing which applies tells you how your case will run, when title passes and what the deadlines are.
Title can pass early. In Department cases, section 136-103 requires a complaint, a declaration of taking and a deposit of estimated compensation. Section 136-104 then vests title and the right of possession. The amount is argued afterwards.
The short answer
Planning, survey, valuation and an offer come first. If there is no agreement the condemnor files. In Department cases title vests on filing against a deposit, and compensation is determined last.
The agency settles what land the project requires. In some cases a transportation corridor map may have been recorded years earlier.
Parcels within the footprint are identified and measured.
The condemnor obtains a valuation of the interest it intends to acquire.
A written figure is presented with the valuation behind it.
In Department cases, a complaint and declaration of taking with a deposit under section 136-103.
Section 136-104 vests title and the right of possession on filing. Chapter 40A vesting works differently under section 40A-42.
Sections 136-106 and 136-107 govern your response and the time allowed. The dates are strict.
Section 136-108 lets the judge decide title, area and similar questions separately.
Section 136-109 provides for their appointment.
Section 136-112 sets the measure of damages for Department takings, section 40A-64 the general partial taking measure.
Section 136-113 treats interest as part of just compensation.
A deposit secures compensation and lets the project proceed. It does not decide what you are owed.
Where a corridor map was recorded over your land, the restriction it imposed has its own compensation consequences, and its own strict deadline for raising them.
It varies with the project, the valuation and whether the parties agree. Do not work from a general timeline. Confirm the dates applying to your matter with a licensed North Carolina attorney, because several North Carolina deadlines are strict.
In Department cases section 136-104 vests title and the right of possession once the complaint, declaration of taking and deposit are filed. The final figure follows later.
It allows the judge to determine any issues raised by the pleadings other than damages, such as title and the area taken, before the question of money is reached.
Section 136-111 gives a remedy where the Department has taken or damaged property without filing one.
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