Understand
What compensation covers, and what it deliberately does not
The standard is that you should be no worse off financially than if the property had not been taken. That principle explains both what is paid and what is refused, including things that feel like obvious losses.
The boundary
Paid and not paid
| Item | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Land and buildings taken | Paid, at fair market value |
| Loss in value to the remainder | Paid, as severance damages |
| Fences, paving, wells, septic, mature planting | Paid, and routinely understated |
| Temporary construction areas | Paid, usually as rent for the period plus restoration |
| Moving and relocation expenses | Separate statutory programme, not part of the valuation |
| Business goodwill | Excluded in most states, compensated by statute in a few |
| Lost profits | Generally excluded, with narrow state exceptions |
| Sentimental value | Excluded everywhere |
| Legal and appraisal fees | Usually borne by each side; recoverable in some states on conditions |
The most missed item
Damage to what you keep
If part of your property is taken, the rest is often worth less than it was: closer to a road, harder to get into, short of parking, cut in two, or no longer large enough for what it was used for. That loss has a name, severance damages, and it is part of compensation.
It is also the item most often absent from an agency offer. The test is simple. Does the appraisal state a value for the whole property before the taking and a separate value for the remainder afterwards? If it does not, severance damages cannot be in the figure, because the method that captures them was not applied.
The second most missed item is relocation assistance, which is a separate programme with its own benefits and its own deadlines. Tenants in particular often do not know it exists.
Questions about compensation
Is fair market value what I think my property is worth
Not necessarily. It is what the market would have paid, under a definition that excludes value specific to you. The gap is normal and it is not evidence of bad faith.
Do I get paid for the disruption
Not as part of the valuation. The relocation programme covers defined moving and reestablishment costs. General inconvenience is not compensable anywhere.
They are taking a strip and paying per square foot
Reasonable for the land itself. It cannot capture damage to the rest of the property, and where the remainder is affected the before and after method is the correct one.
Do I get interest
In most states, from the date of taking or deposit until payment, at a rate set by statute or the court.
Find the site that answers your question properly
This is a starting point. The detailed answers live on the sites built for each question, and on the site for your state.