Fighting eminent domain mostly a losing battle

Steve Kemme and Gregory Korte of The Cincinnati Enquirer analyzed real-estate sales records and found that those who sold their homes for an urban renewal project in suburban Norwood made more than twice what their homes were worth — while those who had their properties taken by eminent domain made three times their appraised value. The reporters analyzed every eminent domain case in Hamilton County in the past eight years to show that when government moves to take private property, owners can rarely — if ever — stop it." The investigation found that owners do get 85 percent more in court than the government was willing to pay when it filed the condemnation action.