What Florida property owners must know before responding to a condemnation offer — and why the clock works in your favor, not theirs.
By Mark Nation
Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney
Florida Eminent Domain Defense
You open your mail one morning and find a letter from the Florida Department of Transportation, your county, or some other government agency. They want your property — or part of it — for a road project, utility easement, or public improvement. Attached is a dollar figure. It may even look reasonable. They probably told you the offer is valid for 30 days.
Here is the first thing you need to understand: there is no hard deadline for you to accept or reject that offer. The 30-day clock they are citing runs against the government — it is the minimum negotiation period they must observe before filing a lawsuit to take your property. It is not a countdown to your rights expiring.
Here is the second thing: that offer is almost certainly too low. Not because the government is acting in bad faith, but because the system is designed to produce low initial offers. The government's appraisers are paid to support the government's position. Your job — with the right attorney and the right experts — is to prove what your property is actually worth.
"The government's first offer is the floor, not the ceiling. Florida's Constitution guarantees you full compensation — and full means full."
Most people assume the government has to pay "fair market value." That is the federal standard. Florida's Constitution goes further. Article X, Section 6 guarantees property owners full compensation — a meaningfully higher standard that includes not just the value of what is taken, but every financial consequence of the taking.
Under § 73.015, Fla. Stat., before the government can file a condemnation lawsuit, it must make you a written good faith offer based on a certified appraisal, provide you with a copy of that appraisal, and then allow at least 30 days for negotiation. If negotiations fail, the government files a petition — and at that point you have 20 days to respond under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
But here is the strategic reality: nothing in the law requires you to accept, reject, or even respond to the initial offer within any particular window. You are entitled to time to retain your own experts, commission your own appraisal, and build your own case for what full compensation actually looks like.
30 — Days the government must negotiate before filing suit
20 — Days to respond after a condemnation petition is filed
$0 — Out-of-pocket attorney and expert fees paid by the government
The right-of-way agent who contacts you is trained in this process. You are not. Every statement you make, every concession you offer, every price you float — all of it becomes part of the record. Refer all communications to an attorney immediately.
The government's appraiser works for the government. That is not a conspiracy — it is simply how the process works. You are entitled under § 73.015 to receive a copy of their appraisal. Read it carefully with an experienced eminent domain attorney. Then retain your own certified MAI appraiser to conduct an independent analysis. The difference between the two numbers is often substantial.
Florida law recognizes multiple categories of compensation that many property owners — and even some attorneys — overlook. The government's offer typically addresses only the land taken. It often ignores severance damages to your remaining property, business damages, loss of access, signage loss, and the cost to cure problems the taking creates on what you keep.
Important: If your property has a business that has operated at that location for five or more years and a partial taking is involved, you may be entitled to separate business damage compensation under § 73.071(3)(b), Fla. Stat., including lost profits and goodwill. Many property owners never claim this because they do not know it exists.
Florida's full compensation standard requires the government to make you whole. That means every financial consequence of the taking must be evaluated and, where applicable, included in your claim.
This is the question most clients ask first, and the answer surprises nearly everyone: the government pays your attorney's fees and expert costs.
Under §§ 73.091–73.092, Fla. Stat., the condemning authority is required to pay reasonable attorney's fees and all reasonable expert expenses incurred by the property owner.
The fee is calculated on a sliding scale based on the difference between the government's initial offer and the final award. That structure creates a powerful incentive to fight aggressively for every dollar. The larger the gap between their offer and your final recovery, the larger the fee the government must pay. There is no financial reason for a Florida property owner to accept an inadequate offer.
"You are not paying for this fight out of your pocket. The law puts that burden where it belongs — on the government that chose to take your property."
Not all takings follow the same procedural path.
In a slow take under Chapter 73, title to your property does not pass until a final judgment is entered, which means you retain leverage and the government can still walk away from the project.
In a quick take under Chapter 74, the government deposits its appraised value into the court registry and can obtain an Order of Taking that transfers title and possession immediately.
If you receive a quick take petition, you should know two critical things:
First, you can withdraw the government's deposit from the court registry without giving up your right to claim more, so you can access those funds immediately while continuing to fight for full compensation.
Second, once the Order of Taking is entered, the government cannot abandon the project. That is leverage, and it matters in negotiations.
In a quick take proceeding, you also have the right under § 74.051 to request an adversarial preliminary hearing to challenge the government's authority, the public purpose of the taking, and whether the deposit is grossly inadequate. This must be done promptly because these windows close fast.
When the government contacts you about your property, you are not obligated to accept their timeline, their number, or their framing of what you are owed. You have constitutional rights, statutory protections, and access to expert advocates whose fees the government must pay. What you do not have is unlimited time to get organized.
The moment you receive any communication from a condemning authority — a letter, a phone call, or a visit from a right-of-way agent — you should consult with an experienced Florida eminent domain attorney. Not because you are required to, but because the process starts working against uninformed property owners the moment it begins.
At Nation Eminent Domain, we represent property owners exclusively on the defense side of these cases. We do not represent governments. We do not represent condemning authorities. We represent you, and we treat every case as if it is going to trial because that is the only way to maximize what the government owes you.
Disclaimer
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every eminent domain case is unique. The statutes and procedures described above are based on Florida law and are subject to change. You should consult a qualified Florida eminent domain attorney regarding the specific facts of your situation. Mark Nation is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney. Board certification is a Florida Bar designation recognizing expertise and experience in a legal specialty area.
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