Also known as: protect property · protecting property · property protection · property rights · right to property
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal principle that safeguards established property interests against subsequent governmental regulations or private interferences that would otherwise impair those rights. The principle recognizes vested rights in nonconforming uses and requires that any forced termination through amortization be reasonable in light of the owner's investment. It also limits private nuisance liability to persons holding recognized property rights or privileges in the affected land.
Piper Patel purchased a manufacturing plant in an industrial zone. Years later the city rezoned the area residential and ordered all factories to close. Because the plant was a lawful nonconforming use when established, Piper retains a vested right to continue the existing operation despite the new zoning.
Paige Porter and other parents hold a community easement allowing their children to use a school playground after hours. A nearby technical college begins welding classes that produce loud noise and smoke. Paige sues the college for private nuisance. Her easement interest supplies the property right required to maintain the action.
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Patricia Patel obtained a building permit and spent substantial sums grading land for a retail center under the then-current zoning. The city later rezones the parcel for residential use only. Because Patricia acted in good-faith reliance and made substantial expenditures, she acquires a vested right to complete the project under the prior zoning.
Patrick Phan owns a large billboard erected lawfully before the city banned off-premise signs. The ordinance grants owners five years to remove nonconforming billboards. The period is reasonable given the modest investment and the nature of the use, so the city may require removal without paying compensation.
Phoebe Park, a reporter, leaks advance column information to traders who profit from it. The newspaper claims the scheme deprived it of property. The court treats the pre-publication confidentiality of the column as a protected property interest sufficient to support the fraud charge.
Pilar Pena, a corporate officer, accepts undisclosed payments in exchange for steering contracts. Prosecutors charge honest-services fraud. The court holds that the statute reaches only bribery and kickback schemes that deprive the employer of money or property, not mere breaches of fiduciary duty without a property loss.
Yes. The vested right to continue a nonconforming use may be lost through abandonment or discontinuance for the statutory period, allowing the municipality to enforce the new zoning.
Only persons who hold property rights or privileges in the use and enjoyment of the affected land, including possessors and owners of easements or profits, may recover for private nuisance.
The owner must demonstrate good-faith reliance on a permit or existing zoning plus substantial expenditures or a change in position that would make it inequitable to apply the new restrictions.
An amortization ordinance is valid if the period allowed for phase-out is reasonable in light of the nature of the use, the owner's investment, and the time granted, and if the ordinance does not amount to a taking without compensation.
…in Poe v. Ullman , 367 U. S. 497, 551-552: "Certainly the safeguarding of the home does not follow merely from the sanctity of property rights. The home derives its pre-eminence as the seat of family life. And the integrity of that life is something so fundamental that it has been found to draw to its protection the principles of…