North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Stagecoach Village

WYNN, Judge.

A person is a necessary party to an action when he is so vitally interested in the controversy involved in the action that a valid judgment cannot be rendered in the action completely and finally determining the controversy without his presence as a party. Strickland v. Hughes, 273 N.C. 481, 485, 160 S.E.2d 313, 316 (1968). Plaintiff contends that the individual lot owners who have a recorded easement in the condemned common area are not necessary parties for a determination of the just compensation for the common areas. As we hold those owners of the easement have a material…