It happens all over the place, though. You do need to keep an eye on who your city and county officials are schmoozing with--that will usually give you an early warning "WASSSUP!"
This misuse should be fought, prosecuted, and the corrupt politicians brought under the State Atty. Generals close examination. People should be sent to jail for such things.
That said, there are many good and reasonable applications of Eminent Domain. I have seen highways get needed expansion, exits from thruways get created, farmland turned into forever-wild parks in the face of increasingly dense development, and so on. These are good uses of this law, and I would wager that for every corrupt use of the law, there are 1000 good uses of it.
Kinda like guns.