NAR supports Property rights bill now before the Congress

Real Estate Weekly, March 8, 1995

The Private Property Protection Act of 1995 now before the U.S. Congress should be enacted to ensure that property owners receive financial compensation when their property is limited - therefore devalued - by federal actions, says the National Association of Realtors.

The bill, H.R. 925, a portion of the GOP "Contract with America," will grant property owners compensation when the value of their property is reduced by at least 10 percent. "This private property rights bill is a goal we have worked towards for a long time," NAR President Edmund G. Woods, Jr. said. "Property owners and Realtors have teamed together in recent years to combat the growing number of environmental restrictions that limit property use. Many of these restrictions violate the constitutional rights of property owners when they are denied just compensation for these limitations," added Woods, a Realtor from Holyoke, Mass.

"NAR recognizes the importance of protecting the natural environment, but believes that any federal action should be balanced with compensation guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution," Woods explained. "The general public should pay the price for land-use restrictions, rather than the private property owner. Both homeowners and business owners will be better off with enactment of this legislation, since the costs will be shared by the public, who benefit from the restrictions."