84-year-old Alabama lady was forced to sell her house for more than 60 years because the property may be worth $20 million. Corine Woodson, 84, has been living in the same home on the outskirts of Auburn for almost 60 years and is being forced to move because the property lies on land that her family shares ownership of.
84-year-old Alabama lady was forced to sell her house for more than 60 years because the property may be worth $20 million. “I’d want to inquire as to why. You understand why, but I don’t. I’m at a loss for words. It got me thinking and wondering. It is not simple. “I can assure you of that,” Woodson told media.
The site is part of a 40-acre piece defined as land collectively held by hundreds of family members, with no particular component, just a percentage of ownership.
Woodson moved to the property with her late husband, whose father bought it in the early 1900s and has since handed it down through many generations of the family.
Some of the “tenants-in-common” are seeking to sell their share of the property because when one owner sells, everyone sells, allowing investors to come in and take advantage of the valuable acreage in the expanding Moore’s Mill area.
Cleveland Brothers Inc. has purchased other family members’ holdings in the property throughout the years, increasing its portion of ownership to 49%.
As a result of a court-ordered appraisal, the corporation may soon be able to acquire the whole challenged land.
Willie Woodson, Woodson’s spouse of over 50 years, died last year, complicating the ownership position.
“It was already determined that the land could not be divided equally,” Woodson’s daughter Melissa said. “That is how he has the opportunity to buy all of it, and since they’re saying that my dad didn’t say that he wanted to buy all of it, they’re not allowing my mom the opportunity to do so.”
The actual value of the property is unclear since the assessment is still in progress, but two-acre lots nearby are selling for $500,000 apiece, and Woodson’s 40 acres might be worth close to $20 million, according to the source.
Woodson never came forward to claim the property because she thought she was the legitimate owner of the whole plot. She subsequently filed a request for a chance to buy the land, but the court dismissed it because it was too late.
Cleveland Brothers Inc. said the octogenarian would be allowed to stay in the house for a year after the sale.
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