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It seems, very unfortunately, that this has happened on at least three occasions in Detroit, where the wrong home is demolished by the city or an unknown contractor. What is the frequency of this sad situation? Who is blamed, and does the owner ever get compensated or found a new home by the city or county? I could not find any more info about these three incidents.
UPI.com - Crew may have demolished wrong house
Youtube: Detroit Workers Demolish Wrong House
KWTX.com: Oops, Wrong House
Don't know about homes but a couple I worked for bought a business property adjacent to their business and the city came out and demolished it accidently.
A former customer of mine had a commercial building he owned in Detroit illegally demolished. It happened the same way as in the video. Neighboring business owners confronted the demolition crews, but they were ignored and the building was torn down. By the time the owner arrived it was beyond salvageable.
Two years later, and after a drawn out lawsuit the City of Detroit ended up paying him for the building, the value of all the contents and other damages. Honestly this stuff does happen a lot more frequently than one would expect, and not only in Detroit. The sheer numbers of demolitions in the City just means it happens more often here.
Hey Gsg......... I know it wasn't your intent, but that second link [[the youtube one) is sourced from a white supremacist organization, which I decline to offer a link, as I refuse to trigger their "page counter". Let's just say making fun of Detroit and it's citizenry is what they're all about...
Yeah, they "troll" their vids all over youtube, changing from one account to another as they are cited for violations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redleg81
Accidents happen. I remember representing a Detroit oil company which poured 150 gallons of heating oil in a Palmer Park home through its outside oil spout. Problem was that it was the house next door that they should have serviced. The house they "serviced" had an outside oil spout , but it was disconnected as the family had recently switched to gas. And the oil tank had been removed about a week before the incident. The oil went in to the basement about 3 inches deep. Not a very happy camper when the poor lady came home from a shopping trip and found out the cause of the smell permeating her home. That little mishap cost Travelers Insurance [[ the oil company's liability carrier) quite a few bucks to resolve.
Wasn't this also posted in the Youtube thread? I have seen that video before.
Sorry, I honestly didn't pay attention to it besides the headline & news report. Not my intent to funnel traffic to it... Is the video available from another source?Quote:
Originally Posted by Redleg81
I was an intern in the Mid-80's working for a community development orginization with an office on W McNichols. The building next to ours was a successful florist with a nice greenhouse. Came to work one day to see the City had already knocked 90 percent of it down. Turns out someone read the address wrong.. they should have ripped down the building on E McNichols... OOPS!
And not bothered to look through windows, apparently. I could see them getting the wrong empty building occasionally, but don't see how this could happen to a functioning business and be called an accident.Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner
I had a look at that website. Looks pretty stupid, and the people behind it are just as stupid. Total Waste Of Time!
Don't the owners of the wrongfully demolished properties understand that the City is trying to revitalize them???
To make things even worse, demolition is just the tip of the iceburg. Police make the same mistakes with warrants, raids and responses. So does the Fire Department and EMS. The water department has even had brand new, perfectly functioning water mains replaced due to the same type of mistake. Big waste of money.
Priceless!
Does anyone think some of the cases might be inside jobs getting insurance payoff's?
I hope this is sarcasm.Quote:
Originally Posted by One Shot
I doubt it, would leave a lengthy paper trail and it would be the City's Insurance Company that pays not yours!
I remember reading an article about this happening many months ago. I still can't believe this happens.
"I doubt it, would leave a lengthy paper trail and it would be the City's Insurance Company that pays not yours!"
If I remember right, the Detroit City is self-insured.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baselinepunk
You, my friend, are 100% correct.