There are three ways that property can be taken, requiring the payment of just compensation pursuant to the Fifth Amendment. The first is a de jure taking, which in New York follows the filing of a petition to condemn in state Supreme Court, or the filing of an appropriation map in the County Clerk’s office, which will result in a claim in the Court of Claims. These are the normal, or de jure condemnation proceedings with which we are familiar. But, a taking can also happen in two other ways. The first is by an inverse taking. The other is by a de facto taking.
Unfortunately, the terms “inverse condemnation” and “de facto taking” are used interchangeably by the courts. Inverse condemnations traditionally have been regulatory takings, which are decided on an ad hoc basis.
