Amicus Brief: Tedford’s Tenancy v. City of New York and Walls v. Prince George’s County

Tedford’s Tenancy owns a rent-stabilized apartment building in New York City, and its necessary expenses will always exceed the rental income permitted by the government’s rent ceilings. Garnell Walls wants to build a home on his property in Prince George’s County, Maryland, but the county will not approve the private well and septic system he needs to do so.

Both property owners sued, arguing that the restrictions on their properties were unconstitutional takings of their property without just compensation. But neither plaintiff’s claim was allowed to proceed in court. The New York courts held that Tedford's Tenancy first had to pursue preexisting hardship exemptions, even though Tedford is ineligible for them and, in any event, wouldn't really help their financial dire straits. The Fourth Circuit held that Walls had gone to court too soon because he had not sought a “legislative amendment” from the county, which also wouldn't help Walls's situation. 

Now on petition for Supreme Court review, the Manhattan Institute and Professor James W. Ely, Jr. have filed an amicus brief supporting both property owners’ petitions for Supreme Court review. These cases implicate the “finality requirement” for regulatory-takings claims. Under Supreme Court precedent, a property owner may bring a takings claim once the government has reached a conclusive position about how its regulations apply to the property. The owner need not first exhaust every remaining governmental procedure. Yet some lower courts continue to treat finality as a matter of “prudential ripeness,” allowing them to impose judge-made barriers to takings claims. The Court should clarify that finality is a jurisdictional requirement grounded in Article III standing, not a prudential doctrine that courts may use to impose additional barriers to takings claims. The Court should grant the petitions and put an end to the second-class treatment of property rights under the prudential-ripeness doctrine.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.

Trevor Burrus is a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

With thanks to associate Matt Skrod