He should have known

Until recently, New York allowed government agencies to seize private property after nothing more than an obscure public notice published in a newspaper. The notice's publication started a 30-day clock ticking, at the conclusion of which property owners lose the right to appeal the condemnation. Government officials can then proceed at their leisure. Empire State legislators have since amended the process to require mailed notice of pending land-grabs to property owners -- but that won't help William Brody.

Brody lost his land years ago, and he's been fighting to get it back. While a federal appeals court has already ruled in his favor, the case continues, and it may be small comfort if he wins. That's because his property has already been "redeveloped" by the city of Port Chester. As the Institute for Justice puts it:

While Bill Brody was restoring four abandoned buildings in Port Chester, the village issued him permits but never once informed him that in the end it planned to take his buildings, bulldoze them, and hand the land over to a private developer for a Stop & Shop supermarket parking lot. Instead of mailing Bill notice of the imminent loss of his rights, the village published a legal classified ad that didn't mention anything about the fact that property owners would be waiving their rights if they didn't file a lawsuit within 30 days. Now, six years into his legal fight—and after scoring two victories in federal appeals courts overturning various trial court decisions—Bill Brody remains in federal court fighting for his rights and his property.

While a court has already found that Brody's due process rights were violated, Port Chester insists that he's not entitled to any redress because he should have known anyway that his land was targeted for a taking. City officials continue to battle the man in court.

Brody's rights remain up in the air -- but then again, as this case illustrates, so do yours.