City of Long Branch v. Gregory P. Brower

IJ President and General Counsel, Chip Mellor (left) and Senior Attorney, Scott Bullock, join IJ client Lori Vendetti at a press conference in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Across the United States, local governments are using the power of eminent domain to seize private homes, businesses and farms in order to transfer property to other private owners for their private use.  More often than not, governments justify these private-to-private transfers by claiming that the property is “blighted” and will be “redeveloped” by the new owner thereby supposedly creating more jobs and taxes.

As is the case in Long Branch, N.J., however, the definition of “blight” has become so broad and unprincipled that governments regularly target perfectly fine homes in ordinary neighborhoods for the wrecking ball.  Nice homes with spectacular oceanfront views in vibrant neighborhoods can be condemned for reasons like “diversity of ownership,” meaning that each home is owned by a separate family—something that should be a point of pride for Americans rather than an excuse to take what rightfully belongs to a homeowner.  If owning your own home means your house is blighted, whose house isn’t blighted?

The Institute for Justice is representing Long Branch homeowners who are fighting their City’s effort to forcibly take their homes and hand the land over to private developers who plan to make tens of millions of dollars building upscale condos for the wealthy.