New York Multistate Bar (MBE) Practice Exam

Regulatory takings analysis: when a zoning rule goes so far as to deprive the owner of all economically viable use of the land, that regulation is treated as a taking per se under the Fifth Amendment, requiring compensation. If a use that existed lawfully before the regulation (a prior conforming use) is eliminated entirely by the new zoning, there is no remaining economically viable use, so it triggers this per se rule. That’s the essence of why the statement is true. If the regulation only reduces value but leaves some viable use, the usual Penn Central balancing test applies instead of a per se taking.