Orientation
What to do in the first week
Very little needs deciding immediately. Almost everything useful in the first week is gathering information rather than taking a position.
In order
The first week
Work out what you have actually received
A notice of interest, a notice of intent to acquire, a written offer and a filed petition are very different documents with very different consequences. The first two oblige you to do nothing. The last starts a clock.
Find out whether a deadline is running
If a petition has been filed you have a limited time to respond, and in some states it is short. If you are unsure, this is the single question worth paying a lawyer an hour to answer.
Request the appraisal
Any offer is based on a valuation. Ask for the complete report in writing, not the summary sheet. In federally assisted acquisitions you are entitled to a written statement of the basis for the offer.
Start a file
Every letter, every email, the date and substance of every call. Condemnation matters run long and memory is a poor record. Agencies keep files; owners who do not are at a disadvantage later.
Do not negotiate on the doorstep
The right of way agent is doing a job and is often perfectly straightforward, but the first conversation is not the time to state a position or agree to anything.
Work out what is actually being taken
All of it, part of it, or rights over it. A partial taking and an easement raise completely different questions from a total acquisition.
Then
Where to go depending on what you have
A notice
What it is, what it obliges and what comes next.
An offer
How to read it and what it rests on.
A petition
The lawsuit has started. Here is its shape.
A deadline you cannot identify
Finding and hiring counsel in your state.
A business or a lease
Tenants and businesses have separate rights.
A condemned building notice
A different legal process entirely.
A caution
What this site cannot do
This site explains the process in general terms. Condemnation procedure, deadlines, the measure of compensation and the recovery of costs are all matters of state law, and they differ substantially from one state to another. A general description can orient you; it cannot tell you what applies to your property.
If a petition has been filed, or if a document you have been sent carries a date by which you must respond, speak to a lawyer admitted in your state now rather than after reading further.
Not sure what to do next
Most owners are reacting to a document they did not expect. Working through it in order is easier than it looks.