LITIGATION SERVICES AVC takes pride in performing real estate research and analysis designed to hold up under intense scrutiny. Our work is not limited to environmental cases. We have provided valuation services and expert witness testimony in complex and contentious lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of dollars. EXAMPLES OF LITIGATION SERVICES East Texas - Research and valuation of historical surface-rental rights in eleven counties covering over six million acres in east Texas. The Alabama-Coushatta tribe had won a lawsuit against the United States claiming that the US government had usurped its property rights without just compensation. AVC researched over 1,000 sales and rental covering the period from 1845 (when Texas became a state) until 1954. The assignment also involved incorporation of timber and mineral/petroleum rights to estimate the total rental value of the acreage over the 110-year period. Austin, Texas - Appraisal of 60 acres under Federal Land Acquisition guidelines. Property was affected by endangered species on site, and proposed acquisition would eliminate valuable frontage at a stoplight intersection. Southeast Texas - Appraisal of a hazardous waste disposal facility near Beaumont. Property consisted of 3,000 acres of land with a hazardous waste landfill, deep injection well, and incinerator. The incinerator did not function to full capacity, and recent changes in EPA regulations had made waste incineration less profitable. AVC appraised this property for ad valorem purposes. Southeast Texas - Appraisal of 360 acres for ad valorem purposes. Property contained the largest rubber-processing facility in North America . San Francisco, CA - Appraisal of municipal solid waste landfill under order by the state to close. Assignment involved several years of valuation and issues including diminution caused by a hazardous waste landfill cell, closure and post-closure costs, and the future use of the site as a transfer station. San Diego, CA - Appraisal of landfill under various scenarios involving easement acquisitions and forfeitures. An electric easement bisected the property and was to be moved. Values were estimated on potential landfill tonnage based on ultimate easement location. Assignment also involved leases of easements and valuation of land for habitat mitigation purposes. Central Texas - Appraisal of a landfill subject to a lease. Assignment involved the present value of the existing lease and a proposed lease under a variety of conditions and the probable expansion of the landfill. Grand Prairie, Texas - Estimates of unimpaired value, loss of parts taken, and damages to the remainder for an 18-hole golf course. The State of Texas acquired two acres to widen a channel easement, affecting the layout of the course. Austin, Texas - Appraisal of a specialty-beef cattle ranch in eastern Travis County. State of Texas acquired almost one-half of the acreage for the construction of a highway, taking all the improvements, over one hundred acres of improved pasture, and leaving a awkwardly shaped remainder with limited economic use. El Paso, Texas - Appraisal of several newer, high-value homes with unstable soils. A nearby, poorly constructed detention pond directed high volumes of groundwater through the subject properties, causing settling, extensive cracking of foundations and walls, and compromised retention walls. Laredo, Texas - Appraisal of a 40-acre planned residential subdivision to estimate unimpaired and impaired value. Late in the development process, the property owner determined that soils were unstable and substandard for development. The case involved litigation against a company that previously had tested the soil and found no significant problems. Assignment involved estimates of unimpaired property value and real property damages. Williamson County, Texas - Six tracts proposed for condemnation by the State of Texas for the construction of State Highway 45 in Round Rock. Assignment included estimates of value of parts taken and remaining acreage. Austin, Texas - Appraisal of a perpetual utility easement cutting across five tracts in northeast Austin. This assignment involved estimate of value of the easement as well as damages to the remaining acreage.