Woman returns from vacation to find family home mistakenly demolished

[Jilly_in_VA]

A homeowner is mulling the next step after a company mistakenly demolished a home she owned in south-west Atlanta.

Susan Hodgson said in an interview on Saturday with the Associated Press that she found a pile of rubble in place of what used to be her longtime family property when she returned from vacation last month.

“I am furious,” Hodgson said. “I keep waking up thinking, ‘Is this all a joke or something?’ I’m just in shock.”

She said a neighbor called her while she was away and asked if someone had been hired to tear down the vacant house.

“I said ‘no’ and she said, ‘Well, there’s someone over here who just demolished the whole house and tore it all down,’” Hodgson recalled.

When the neighbor confronted them, Hodgson said, the workers got nasty.

“He told her to shut up and mind her own business,” Hodgson said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/woman-returns-from-vacation-to-find-family-home-mistakenly-demolished

Time to sue somebody's ass off!

[JohnnyRingo]

1. Go back on vacation I guess.

At least until the offending contractors build them a new home.

[LizBeth]

2. Yas cause she was being a "Karen". Oh wait, no she was just pointing out their error.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. This will be a fun lawsuit to watch

[Diamond_Dog]

4. I feel for this lady but

Why would you board up a home that you own for 15 years and continue to pay the property tax and for lawn care?

[mopinko]

8. likely needed a lot of money.

maybe she figured she’d get around to it at some point.
she had to pay taxes to keep the title. usually get in trouble for not keeping up grounds.
if she inherited it, free and clear, that’s chump change.

a lot of old ppl feel they’re saving money by not keeping up w repairs. but it comes out of the kid’s inheritance, and leaves them w nightmares. and hard choices.

[CaptainTruth]

10. Because they wanted to maintain ownership of the property, probably.

I've seen several situations like this, in some cases it's waiting until a son/daughter is old enough to transfer the deed to them, in other cases is can be the house of parents who died without a will & multiple siblings are in a dispute over inheritance of the property, & yes things like that can drag on for 15+ years.

It's especially sad if the property isn't maintained & goes to rot. I know of one in my area that had large tree branches fall on it during a storm & punch holes through the roof. I recently was working next door & walked over & looked through the windows & drywall has fallen off the ceiling & the walls are covered with mold. The owner was holding on to the "house" but at this point it'll have to be torn down, it's more of a liability than an asset. It's waterfront property though, so I'm sure that's why they're hanging on to it. The lot itself, with mature trees in a secluded location, will probably sell for over $2 million, even with a house that needs to be torn down.

[IbogaProject]

5. Boarded up for years

Not a residence. Still an issue, but this person still has a home, this was an extra they were holding onto for some reason.

[Warpy]

7. She'll get a settlement but not a fabulous one

It sounds like the house she might have grown up in or that grandparents owned that needed a great deal of updating to be particularly livable again but she couldn't bear to part with.

It still had to be a shock.

[rsdsharp]

6. Pretty much a slam dunk summary judgment.

But, there’s winning a judgment, and then there’s collecting a judgment. It’s quite possible that the company doesn’t have the assets, or insurance to pay.

[moniss]

11. Many times the municipalities have

bond and/or insurance requirements for the contractors they use but they never check to make sure the company keeps the bond premiums paid and insurance paid. Some of these fly by night guys will just fold the tent and disappear and never come to court. It's the old blood and a rock scenario.

[mopinko]

9. i'd b furious but

prolly a bit relieved. i know a few ppl who inherited an old mess of a house.
some took the time, trouble and money to get them up to snuff, and some who sold them for what they cd get, which is a lot less than they expected.
and then there’s the stuff.

i am not even wondering y she boarded it up and let it sit for 15 yrs.

[progressoid]

12. Oops.

[70sEraVet]

13. My guess, the property has INCREASED in value, now that the home is gone.

These days, i think most developers would rather build a new home than deal with rehabbing an old home that has been neglected for many years.