Property owners who have had their land seized by the government without declaration and full compensation have legal recourse through what is known as an inverse condemnation lawsuit.
Compared to an eminent domain lawsuit, which is filed by a government or condemning authority in order to take private property, inverse condemnation involves a property owner suing the condemning authority for just compensation after an undeclared “taking.” The government’s taking need not be the physical seizure of land.
It can also be a regulatory taking or the imposition of regulations that thwart a business’ income potential. Inverse condemnation is a corrective course of action when the government or condemning authority fails to follow eminent domain procedure. Under Florida law, the statute of limitation for an inverse condemnation lawsuit is four years.