Mortgage Alliance Corp. v. Pickens County

This case stemmed from an effort by Mortgage Alliance Corporation (“MAC”) a residential subdivision called “Silverstone.” In August 2008, MAC sued the county and various county officials alleging, among other things, that an August 2006 letter to MAC from the county’s sole commissioner, which said that the county’s position was that any proposal to develop MAC’s property as a subdivision would need to comply with a recent amendment to the county’s land use ordinances, resulted in a taking of MAC’s property without just compensation. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the ground that MAC’s complaint was untimely. The Court of Appeals affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted MAC’s petition for certiorari. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that this case was resolved on the ground that the August 2006 Letter was not a “decision” within the meaning of the applicable statute, and the county never made a final decision on MAC’s Silverstone proposal. Consequently, MAC’s inverse condemnation claim never ripened for judicial review, and the trial court should have granted summary judgment to the defendants on this ground. Although the trial court and the Court of Appeals erred in concluding there was an appealable decision, they reached the right result, and therefore the Court affirmed the appellate court’s judgment.

Mortgage Alliance Corp. v. Pickens County