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In 1986, petitioner David H. Lucas purchased two residential lots on the Isle of Palms in Charleston County, South Carolina, for $975,000. He intended to construct single-family homes on the parcels, which at the time were zoned for such use and required no building permit for development. No portion of the lots qualified as a critical area under then-existing coastal zone legislation. Subsequently, in 1988, the South Carolina Legislature enacted the Beachfront Management Act. The legislation established a baseline and prohibited construction of occupable improvements seaward of a line drawn 20 feet landward of that baseline, directly affecting Lucas's parcels by barring any permanent habitable structures. Lucas filed an action in the Court of Common Pleas alleging that the Act's restrictions effected a taking of his property without just compensation. Following a bench trial, the court determined that the prohibition rendered the lots valueless and ordered the state to pay just compensation in the amount of $1,232,387.50. The Supreme Court of South Carolina reversed the trial court's judgment. It accepted the legislature's findings that new construction threatened public resources and concluded that a regulation designed to prevent serious public harm could not constitute a taking. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision.

In May 1958, Joy M. Cooper leased a portion of the ground floor of a commercial building at 207 Union Street, Hackensack, New Jersey, from the predecessor in title to Reste Realty Corp. After about a year of occupancy, the parties executed a new five-year lease in April 1959 covering the entire ground floor except the furnace room for use as commercial offices in connection with a jewelry firm's sales training and meetings. A driveway ran along the north side of the building. During the first year of occupancy, rainwater ran off the driveway into the leased offices whenever it rained. Arthur A. Donigian, an officer and resident manager of the corporate owner who also maintained an office in the building, was notified of the flooding and took steps to remove the water. Before signing the second lease, Donigian promised to remedy the problem by resurfacing the driveway, and the work was performed. Donigian died on March 30, 1961. Thereafter, when flooding occurred, the lessor ignored Cooper's complaints, and she and her employees removed the water themselves. On multiple occasions, including after heavy rainstorms that left up to two inches of water, sales meetings with as many as fifty attendees had to be relocated or adjourned, sometimes requiring rental of other quarters. On December 20, 1961, five inches of water flooded the premises during a meeting of sales representatives from four states, forcing the meeting to be moved to a nearby inn. Cooper consulted an attorney that evening and, after notifying the lessor, vacated the premises on December 30, 1961. Reste Realty Corp. acquired the building and the lease assignment on January 19, 1962. On November 9, 1964, it sued Cooper to recover rent for the unexpired term through March 31, 1964. The trial court entered judgment for Cooper on her constructive eviction defense. The Appellate Division reversed, and the Supreme Court of New Jersey granted certification.

In 1997, the State of Hawaii had a highly concentrated wholesale oil market due to its small size and isolation over 1,600 miles from the mainland, with only two refineries and six gasoline wholesalers operating in the state. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. was the largest refiner and marketer, controlling 60 percent of the in-state gasoline market and 30 percent of the wholesale market on Oahu. Gasoline was sold at retail through approximately 300 service stations, about half leased by oil companies to independent lessee-dealers. Chevron operated 64 such lessee-dealer stations under arrangements where it leased land, constructed stations, and leased them to dealers while setting wholesale prices and requiring supply contracts. In June 1997, the Hawaii Legislature enacted Act 257, which capped the rent oil companies could charge lessee-dealers at 15 percent of gross profits from gasoline sales plus 15 percent of other product sales, and imposed other restrictions on station ownership. Thirty days after enactment, Chevron filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii against the Governor and Attorney General, challenging the rent cap. The parties stipulated that the cap would reduce aggregate rent on 11 of Chevron's stations by about $207,000 per year but allow increases on the remaining 53, potentially raising overall rental income by nearly $1.1 million annually, and that Chevron had not recovered station maintenance costs through rent alone over the past 20 years. The District Court granted summary judgment to Chevron. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit vacated the judgment and remanded the case. After a one-day bench trial featuring competing expert economists, the District Court entered judgment for Chevron. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari in 2004.