Stand Up for Your Property Rights — Share Your Story

Across Miami, homeowners are being told they must give up part of their property just to receive permission to build on land they already own.

When Chad Trausch applied to expand his home for his growing family, the City of Miami had no concerns with his building plans. Instead, it demanded that he give up nearly half of his front yard, for free, as a condition of approving his permit. The city did not need the land for Chad’s project and had no immediate plan to use it. It simply wanted to “bank” the property in case it decided to widen the street someday.

With the help of the Institute for Justice (IJ), Chad is fighting back. His case revealed that Miami has made hundreds of similar right-of-way demands to property owners across the city, using the permitting process as leverage to take land without compensation. IJ has identified 66 streets where more than 1,000 homes are at risk of being subjected to this practice.

The Constitution protects property owners’ right to use their own property, including building on it. Cities cannot condition building permits on the surrender of private property for speculative future use.

If Miami has required — or is threatening to require — that you give up part of your property to obtain a land-use or building permit, we want to hear from you. Whether you already surrendered a right-of-way, are currently facing such a demand, or own property on one of the affected streets and are concerned about future demands, your experience matters.

Please fill out the form below to share your story. By collecting accounts like Chad’s, IJ can expose the full scope of this unconstitutional practice and work to protect property rights for homeowners across Miami.