Meeting with an attorney

I haven't updated about the land situation.  A few weeks ago I met with an attorney to just find out what my options are and if there is even a reason to get an attorney.  I know I can't stop the county from taking the land, but I also saw that the money they offered me did not take into consideration that my property value would decrease which would be pretty bad if I ever decide to sell my house.

The attorney has had many cases like this before, and many with my county, and he has won.

I explained that if he can get me $2,000 more, but then he charges me $2,000 to $5,000, then I would rather just accept the money that is being offered.  There would be no point in doing something that will get me less money in the long run.

He went through all of the paperwork from the county and I learned the following things.

My mortgage, and apparently many/most mortgages, have a clause in them.  They say that if eminent domain occurs, the money that the county or state pays goes to the mortgage company.  I won't ever see a dime of it, but it will be put towards my mortgage.  In 20 years I will be happy about that, but who wouldn't want to see some of that money now?

The amount that was offered to me really doesn't include anything besides the land.  There was no compensation for my property value decreasing.  There was no compensation for my standard of living changing.  There was no compensation for the loss of the trees (that not only provide nature and shade, but also lower my electric bills in the summer and create a noise barrier from the traffic that is going to increase substantially after the road widens.)

The attorney said that he would work for me and would only charge me a fraction of any additional money he gets me.  Meaning if I walk away not earning any additional money, he doesn't get any money.  If I get $1,000 more with his help, he only gets a fraction of that $1,000.  I think that's a pretty good deal.  He also wrote a letter to my mortgage company on my behalf asking that his fee be taken out of the settlement, so while I won't ever actually see or get the money from the county, his bill will be paid from that money.

My attorney did tell me that this could go to another step in which the county takes the land while we are still trying to negotiate, and we end up going to court.  A jury of peers will be selected and then in one day we present the case, they see the land, and the jury decides what to do.  Obviously, I'd rather not go that far, but I also need to protect myself, my kids, and my animals from what will happen when they take our land and so many of our trees.

And now for pictures to help explain how much land they are taking.

Stake #1 marks the existing end of my property.
They will move the drainage ditch to be between Stake #2 and #3, closer to the house.
The trees and bushes between stake #3 and #4 will be cut down for the electric company to move their lines back.
The trees between stake #4 and #5 will be cut down for the "temporary construction easement".

These are stakes 4 and 5 where the trees will be cut for the construction area

This is the left side of the driveway, from the red line forward is where the trees will be removed for the construction area

Looking toward the house, the trees from the red arrow forward will be removed.  The red arrow is pointing at the tree in the BACK.

 I think the picture above does the best job of showing just how many trees are being removed between the road and our home.

You can see the two stakes along the driveway by the trees that show what will be removed there

I should also point out that while they are cutting down all of my trees, across the road where the large community is, they are going to build a very large "privacy wall" to protect those houses from the noise from the traffic.

The county negotiator and my attorney are coming to the house today, in an hour.  We will be looking at the stakes so my attorney, and then going back to their office a few miles away to try to negotiate.