Also known as: acquired rights · vested right · vested rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A right that vests in a property owner through prior lawful use or substantial good-faith reliance on existing zoning or permits. The right protects continuation of a nonconforming use or completion of authorized development against later regulatory changes. Protection arises because depriving the owner would be inequitable after concrete investment or long-standing operation.
Imperial Buildings has operated a mobile home park for forty years. After the city rezones the area for luxury condos, the owner continues limited operations. The city enacts an amortization ordinance requiring closure in ten years. Imperial Buildings retains the acquired right to continue the preexisting use because the park was lawful when established.
Azure Solutions obtains a valid building permit under current zoning and spends over eight hundred thousand dollars on plumbing and framing. The city then rezones the parcel and revokes the permit. Azure Solutions holds an acquired right to complete the work because the substantial expenditures were made in good-faith reliance on the permit.
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Adam Anderson accepts a public university teaching position after years of service under existing policies. The university later attempts to terminate him without cause. Anderson asserts an acquired right to continued employment grounded in the university's prior practices and his reasonable reliance.
Alexis Archer receives a bequest of land under a will probated before any new statute alters inheritance rules. The legislature later enacts a law attempting to divest the interest. Archer retains the acquired right because the interest vested upon the testator's death under prior law.
Anthony Arnold purchases a life insurance policy from a company that later merges into another insurer. The successor attempts to deny coverage based on new forum rules. Arnold holds an acquired right under the original policy that travels with the contract.
Abigail Alvarez obtains a judgment in her home state under its guest statute. She later moves to a new state with different rules. Alvarez retains the acquired right to enforce the judgment because it vested under the law of the rendering state.
The owner acquires the right when the use was lawful at the time it began and the later zoning change renders it nonconforming. The right protects continuation of the existing use against immediate elimination by the municipality.
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Substantial good-faith expenditures or other changes in position made in reliance on a valid permit or existing zoning create the right. Jurisdictions differ on whether a permit plus construction or a balancing test is required.
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An amortization ordinance may lawfully require termination after a reasonable period in some jurisdictions. Reasonableness turns on the nature of the use, the owner's investment, and the length of the phase-out period.
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…particular uses without paying compensation, notwithstanding the economic impact, under the rationale that no one can obtain a vested right to injure or endanger the public. In the Coates cases, for example, the Supreme Court of New York found no taking in New York's ban on the interment of the dead within the city, although…