A land-use regulation so restrictive it deprives an owner of all economically viable use, potentially requiring compensation.
Why Regulatory Taking matters on the exam
This term belongs to Land Use Controls. The questions below are real items from Freehold's bank that use it - each one cites its source.
Exam questions using Regulatory Taking
Every Freehold question shows why the right answer is right — and cites its source.
A county enacts a regulation that prohibits all development on a privately owned parcel to preserve it as open space, leaving the owner with no economically beneficial use of the land and no compensation offered. The owner's most appropriate legal remedy is to:
Apply to the county for a certificate of occupancy
Record a restrictive covenant against the property
Request that the parcel be formally annexed into a neighboring municipality's boundaries instead
File an inverse condemnation action seeking just compensation for a regulatory taking
Show answer & explanation
File an inverse condemnation action seeking just compensation for a regulatory taking — When regulation eliminates all economically viable use of land, it may constitute a regulatory taking, entitling the owner to pursue an inverse condemnation claim for just compensation.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline §2 Land Use Controls
A land-use regulation that goes so far in restricting an owner's use of property that it deprives the land of all economically beneficial use may be considered:
Automatically valid because police power regulations never require compensation
A regulatory taking requiring just compensation, even though enacted under the police power
A form of adverse possession by the government
Enforceable only against nonconforming uses
Show answer & explanation
A regulatory taking requiring just compensation, even though enacted under the police power — Although police power regulations ordinarily require no compensation, courts have held that a regulation depriving land of all economically beneficial use can become a taking, as in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline §2 Land Use Controls
Freehold is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PSI, Pearson VUE, or any state real estate licensing board or commission. Freehold does not guarantee passage of any licensing exam.
