Alabama woman, 84, is set to be booted from her Auburn home as 20 family members and property investors force sale of old 40-acre sharecropper farm that could be worth up to $20million to McMansion developers

An elderly Alabama woman is set to be booted from the home where she has lived for 60 years after relatives and investors move to sell her 40-acre farm that could be worth up to $20 million to housing developers. 

Corine Woodson, 84, is facing a forced sale of her property on Hamilton Road in Auburn, which estimates based on other property deals in the area, could be worth around $20 million.  

Her husband’s family purchased the 40.7-acre swathe of woods more than 100 years ago, and it’s now prime real estate thanks to the growth of the city over the 20th century. 

But when his father died, the property was left to his children or their heirs – meaning dozens of people now have a claim to a share of the land. 

Developers, The Cleveland Brothers, have bought up 49 percent of the property and are now forcing a sale, which could boot Woodson from the old sharecropper farm.  

The land was valued at $1.2 million some time between 2002 and 2004. This value has risen exponentially since as rich landowners moved in – and as the area developed into a college town thanks to nearby Auburn University. 

An elderly Alabama woman is set to be booted from the home where she has lived for 60 years after relatives and investors moved to sell the property (pictured)

Since the land where Woodson’s home sits isn’t divided into parcels but rather by percentage ownership – under a scheme called ‘tenants in common’ – when one owner wants to sell, everyone must sell (Pictured: the plot of land in Auburn, Alabama)

Since the land where Woodson’s home sits isn’t divided into parcels but rather by percentage ownership – under a scheme called ‘tenants in common’ – when one owner wants to sell, everyone must sell. 

The family, which includes  23 great-grandchildren of the original owner, have long been in dispute over the property. That has included lawsuits and bickering between the sides.

Some say they were tricked out of their portion of the property and signed it to others in the family.

‘[Original owner Ben W. Woodson] bought in an ideal spot,’ Ben Woodson, one of his grandsons told Al.com in 2018. ‘Mansions are going up all around it. When I was living there it was just woods. Now, you wouldn’t believe it.’

The original owner died in 1937 without a will, leaving the land to several family members. That launched the dispute 

In 2005, Cleveland Brothers Construction Company LLC bought the 4.1 acres owned by two of Woodson’s in-laws – Mary and Catherine, for an average of $150,000 for the two properties.

This gave them an initial 15 percent ownership of the 40.7 acres, and since then they have bought up even more relatives’ interests in the property, up to a 49 percent ownership. 

Woodson’s tiny red-roofed bungalow is now dwarfed by ginormous Christmas card-esc mansions on neighboring plots.  

The land was valued at $1.2 million some time between 2002 and 2004. This value has risen exponentially since as rich landowners moved in – and as the area developed into a college town thanks to nearby Auburn University

‘I’d like to ask them, why? I can’t figure it out,’ Corine Woodson said. Thinking about and wondering about it, it’s not easy, I can tell you that’

The firm is waiting for a court-ordered appraisal before it can purchase the entire land parcel under Alabama law. 

Cleveland Brothers is allowed to do this because it came forward before a court deadline to propose its purchase. Woodson did not because she thought she already owned the property. 

Corine Woodson daughter, Melissa Woodson, told the WTVM she feels ‘naïve’ and helpless to change the investment which is now underway.

‘I have even said, “Nobody can just put you off of your property,” and my family members have said, “No they’re not going to do that,” Melissa said. 

‘We were, I guess, naïve or not up to par on the law based on that timeframe, but it’s happening right before our eyes. The sad thing is there is very little we can do about it.’  

Cleveland Brothers Inc has said it will let Woodson stay on the property for one year after the sale is completed.