(a) Any person authorized to acquire property for a particular use by eminent domain may exercise the power of eminent domain to acquire property to be used in the future for that use, but property may be taken for future use only if there is a reasonable probability that its date of use will be within seven years from the date the complaint is filed or within such longer period as is reasonable.
§ 1240.220.Generally
Title 7. Eminent Domain Law · Chapter 3. The Right to Take · Article 3. Future Use · Enacted 1975 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1240.220 authorizes taking property for a future public use only when there is a reasonable probability the property will be used within seven years of the complaint's filing, or within a longer period if that remains reasonable, and requires the complaint and any resolution of necessity to say so whenever the estimated date of use falls outside that seven-year window.
Full Text of § 1240.220
(b) Unless the plaintiff plans that the date of use of property taken will be within seven years from the date the complaint is filed, the complaint, and the resolution of necessity if one is required, shall refer specifically to this section and shall state the estimated date of use.
Plain-English Summary
Article 3's central bargain is this: a condemnor doesn't have to wait until it needs property right now. It can take property today for a use that will begin later, as long as that later use is reasonably certain to happen within a defined window.
Section 1240.220 sets that window at seven years from the date the complaint is filed, or a longer period if a longer period is still reasonable under the circumstances. The core question is probability: is there a reasonable probability the date of use, as § 1240.210 defines it, will fall within that timeframe.
Subdivision (b) adds a disclosure duty. If the plaintiff doesn't plan to use the property within seven years, the complaint, and the resolution of necessity if one is required, must say so explicitly, referring specifically to this section and stating the estimated date of use. That disclosure puts the defendant on notice that the burden-shifting rules of § 1240.230 will apply differently than they would for an ordinary seven-year taking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon must condemned property be used under a future-use taking?
There must be a reasonable probability the date of use will fall within seven years of the complaint's filing, or within a longer period if that longer period is still reasonable.
What must the complaint say if the property won't be used within seven years?
It must specifically refer to § 1240.220 and state the estimated date of use, and the resolution of necessity must do the same if one is required.
What happens if a future-use taking's estimated date of use is disputed?
Section 1240.230 sets out which side carries the burden of proof, depending on whether the complaint already disclosed a date of use beyond seven years.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1975, Ch. 1275.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: future use eminent domain californiaseven year rule condemnation california property