Posted by Pat Holscher on September 06, 1999 at 06:23:13:
In Reply to: RE.Zone Wars. posted by Bill Ward on September 05, 1999 at 18:36:45:
Bill, It is unconstitutional, as you ask, to simply take property without compensating the owner for it, or in the terms of the Constitution to take property "without due process". The nuances make all the difference, however. As indicated in the other replies if property is abandoned it doesn't belong to anyone. More typically, however, the property will fall in a class which you can't keep where your keeping it. Then it is seized, and probably sold, with the cost of seizure and storage applied against the value of the item. As long as there is a legal avenue to complain, however unsuccessfully, you have your due process. Unless you were storing a Pierce Arrow on your property, you will not be getting any money back after the sale, given all the applicable cost.