Alabama man claims city forced him to sell home 20 years ago that's still standing

Alabama man claims city forced him to sell home 20 years ago that's still standing

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property for public use, even if the owner does not want to sell. Jimmy Smith, a 92-year-old Birmingham resident, said he knows more about eminent domain than he ever wanted to. Smith has called the Collegeville neighborhood home for over nine decades. Smith was raised in a house that used to belong to him and his mother. But in 2005, Smith got a knock on th…