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As
Americans, we have the right to own private property and, in general, use it as
we see fit. Our bill of Rights and the Fifth Amendment protect these rights, and
assure us that we cannot be deprived of our property without due process of law.
Nor can our property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Federal, state
and local governments have rights, too. Government can tax property. It can
condemn it, pay a fair price and use it for the public good. The government can
regulate property through building codes, housing codes, zoning codes and more.
Government also can return ownership to the state when the real owner dies
without a will or known heir. As restrictions grow, many people question just
how far the government should go in its regulation of property.
For instance,
building codes were designed to ban inadequate construction and poor materials.
Now, however, some requirements add to housing costs and prohibit the use of
new, more economical construction methods. Rent control protects some tenants
from exploitative landlords. Yet these controls also can speed the deterioration
of exiting housing and discourage the construction of new housing.
To protect
private property rights, property owners should learn about local government
regulations affecting private property. Property owners can help preserve their
private property right by attending city or town meetings; by knowing what’s
happening on such property issues as zoning, taxation and enforcement
regulations that affect private property owners; and, by taking an active part
in the local political process and exercising their right to vote.
What is meant
by private property rights? Private property rights can be defined as an
aggregate of rights guaranteed and protected by the government, which generally
includes the rights to dispose of property in every legal way, to possess it, to
use it and to exclude everyone else from interfering with it.
A person’s
rights cannot be exercised if they unreasonably interfere with another’s rights.
Private property rights are limited by four governmental powers: taxation,
eminent domain (the government’s right to pay just compensation and condemn
property for the public’s benefit), police power, and escheat, which is the
governments’ acquisition of property when an owner dies without will or heirs.
What does the
erosion of private property rights refer to? Over the years, government has
imposed some unreasonable limitations on private property rights that have
little to do with public good and actually are prohibitive and confiscatory in
nature.
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