Where this fits on the exam
| Official syllabus topic | Land Use Controls and Regulations: Government Rights in Land |
|---|---|
| Official PSI area | Land Use Controls and Regulations |
| Published weight | 5% of the national portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes a weight for the complete official area, not a guaranteed count for this individual comparison. Use the source, document, actor, event, and timing stated in the question before applying a memorized definition.
Side-by-side comparison
Read across each row. The terms are deliberately compared on identical dimensions so the difference remains clear when the exam hides the vocabulary inside a scenario.
| Decision dimension | Police power | Eminent domain | Taxation | Escheat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Protect health, safety, morals, and general welfare | Acquire private property for public use | Raise public revenue and secure taxes | Prevent ownerless property |
| Example | Zoning and building codes | Taking land for a highway | Ad valorem property tax and tax lien | Owner dies without legal heirs |
| Compensation | Ordinary valid regulation is not automatically compensable | Just compensation required for a taking | No compensation for a lawfully imposed tax | Succession rule, not a compensated taking |
| Mnemonic letter | P | E | T | E |
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A city limits building height throughout a district to protect fire safety and neighborhood planning.
Reason it through. The city regulates land use rather than acquiring title, collecting tax, or inheriting property.
Answer. The action is an exercise of police power.
Common exam traps
- Calling every value reduction a taking
- Confusing tax liens with eminent domain
- Using escheat for abandoned-looking property
- Memorizing PETE without classifying the action
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1The state transportation department acquires a strip of a family's front yard to widen a highway and pays the owners fair market value. Which government power is being used?
- A. Police power
- B. Escheat
- C. Eminent domain
- D. Taxation
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Eminent domain
Eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use with just compensation. The state is acquiring title and paying for it. Police power is wrong because it regulates use without taking the land.
- A. Incorrect. Police power ordinarily regulates use, such as through a building code. The state is acquiring a property interest for a highway.
- B. Incorrect. Escheat arises when property has no lawful successor. The family here is an existing owner being paid for a taking.
- C. Correct. Acquiring private land for a public highway with compensation exercises eminent domain.
- D. Incorrect. Taxation raises public revenue through imposed taxes. Paying owners for land is a taking, not a tax.
Question 2A Georgia resident dies with no will and no legal heirs, owning a house in Macon. What happens to the house?
- A. It passes to the state by escheat
- B. The county takes it by eminent domain
- C. It becomes public land under police power
- D. A neighbor may claim it by using it
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. It passes to the state by escheat
Escheat transfers property to the state when no legal successor exists. Nothing is being condemned or regulated, so eminent domain and police power do not fit. A neighbor's informal use of the house does not transfer title to the neighbor.
- A. Correct. No will and no lawful heir mean there is no successor to inherit. State escheat law governs the property's disposition.
- B. Incorrect. Eminent domain takes property for a public use with compensation. No public-use acquisition is stated.
- C. Incorrect. Police power regulates land use and safety. It is not a succession rule for an owner's death.
- D. Incorrect. A neighbor's use alone does not establish ownership. The absence of heirs invokes escheat, not an automatic private claim.
Question 3A city adopts a building code requiring fire sprinklers in all new apartment buildings. A developer argues the city must pay for the extra cost. Which statement is correct?
- A. The city must pay, because the code is a taking
- B. No payment is owed for a valid police-power regulation
- C. The city must pay, because compliance works like a tax
- D. No payment is owed, because the land escheats
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. No payment is owed for a valid police-power regulation
Building codes are an exercise of police power to protect health and safety, and an ordinary valid regulation is not automatically compensable. The city is regulating, not taking title. Calling every cost or value loss a taking is the trap.
- A. Incorrect. An ordinary valid safety code does not become a compensable taking solely because compliance costs money.
- B. Correct. Requiring sprinklers in new apartments is a health-and-safety regulation under police power. The stated ordinary valid rule does not itself require compensation.
- C. Incorrect. The cost of compliance is not a government revenue levy and does not create a compensation entitlement.
- D. Incorrect. Escheat concerns absent legal successors. It has no connection to a living developer's building-code obligations.
Ready to move on?
You have this distinction down when all of these are true.
- Define every compared term without using the other term as the definition.
- Rebuild the comparison table from memory.
- State the decision rule and Georgia distinction without notes.
- Solve the worked example after changing one key fact.
- Explain the rule or fact that makes each distractor wrong.
- Answer all three original questions correctly in mixed practice on a later day.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Variance Versus Special Use Versus Nonconforming Use. Zoning is the police power at work, and Variance Versus Special Use Versus Nonconforming Use shows the three ways an owner gets relief from a zoning rule, approval under it, or protection for a use that predates it.
Return to the complete exam-concept library or the Land Use Controls and Regulations hub.