California Partition Law Blog
Oftentimes, the government will announce a public project which may affect the neighboring property’s value. Most of the time, the public project should increase the property’s value. Sometimes though, the announced public project may decrease the property’s value, which may make it difficult to rent the property. When that happens, the property owner may be able to sue for what is known as “Klopping damages”. This allows the owner to recover lost rental income due to the decrease in value from a public project.
Klopping v. City of Whittier: Paying Public Damages
The California Supreme Court case that set the rule for Klopping damages was Klopping v. City of Whittier (1972) 8 Cal.3d 39. In Klopping, the city of Whittier planned to form a parking district. (Id., at 42.) The plaintiffs, Klopping and Sarff, owned properties that were going to be condemned for the project.