1993

Commonwealth Transp. Comm’r v. Klotz, Inc.

Supreme Court of Virginia

245 Va. 101, 425 S.E.2d 508

In October 1987, Commissioner filed a certificate of take on two parcels, stating the fair value was $15,190 and paid that amount into court. The petition in condemnation was filed in November and nonsuited the following April. In September 1990, Klotz accepted the $15,190 by letter. The next month, Commissioner sought to amend the certificate to assert the condemnation of a lesser amount of land, now worth $71. Trial court denied the request and ruled that the amount in the initial certificate was an offer, which was accepted by Klotz’s letter of September 1990. Supreme Court reversed and remanded. The condemnor must make a bona fide but ineffectual offer before filing the condemnation certificate. Filing the certificate is not a renewal of that offer, but serves to vest defeasible title in the Commissioner. Klotz’s rights in the property were transferred to the funds paid into court. Klotz’s letter was not evidence of an agreement between the parties, but only showed he was willing to settle the matter for a specific amount. Further, the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to permit the certificate to be amended.

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