Woman returns from vacation, finds Atlanta home demolished

ATLANTA (AP) — A homeowner is mulling the next step after a company mistakenly demolished a home she owned in southwest Atlanta.

Susan Hodgson told WAGA-TV on Friday that when she returned from vacation she found a pile of rubble in place of what used to be her longtime family property.

“I’m just left with a big ole mess,” Hodgson said.

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 the entire house down,’” Hodgson said.

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

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

So she sent a family member over to see what was going on and who asked to see a permit. When a person in charge at the site checked his permit, Hodgson says he admitted he was at the wrong address.

“It’s been boarded up about 15 years, and we keep it boarded, covered, grass cut, and the yard is clean. The taxes are paid and everything is up on it,” she said.

Hodgson said she hasn’t heard anything from the Atlanta-based company responsible, You Call It We Haul It.

“It’s just hard to believe someone thinks they have the right to just come and tear something up and walk away from it and didn’t come back and say ‘I’m sorry. What do I need to do to fix this. It was an accident.’ They didn’t give me nothing,” Hodgson said.

“I think he owes us an apology, and he needs to fix the problem,” Hodgson said.

The company did not immediately return a telephone message left Saturday by The Associated Press. In a statement to the television station, the company said it is investigating and working to resolve the mishap.