Real Estate & Property Law

A Holdout

By Robert Thomas (inversecondemnation.com)

The New York Times posts a story, "House Stands as Legacy to Fight Against Developers," about one woman's refusal to sell her modest Seattle, Washington area home to a redeveloper, even when offered $1 million.  If a picture is worth a thousand words...

While the case is not like Kelo -- or the fictional The Castle -- in that the developers apparently did not attempt to get the government to take Edith Macefield's property forcefully by eminent domain once she refused to sell, it does illustrate at least one of the reasons people may have for refusing, even where the offer is obviously well in excess of the home's value:

Everybody that?s come in and tried to talk about this has tried to create that image of her,? said Mike Semandiris, whose family has owned a chili parlor around the corner for more than 70 years. ?But she didn?t give a damn about preserving old Ballard. The lady just wanted to live in her house.?

Add Mrs. Macefield to the list of interesting holdout cases (go here for more, illustrated), including that American patriot Bugs Bunny.

Full post as published by inversecondemnation on December 27, 2008 (boomark / email).