Wrong House Demolished: City to Compensate Owner in Fort Worth, Texas (VIDEO, PHOTO)
A wrong house has been demolished in Fort Worth, Texas, with a contractor hired by the city said to be responsible for mistakenly tearing down a vacant home while the owner was away.
Fort Worth City officials are not investigating the incident, and have already asked owner David Underwood, to evaluate how much the structure was worth so that they can compensate him through a possible settlement for the mistake.
Underwood had left his 1,300 square foot house vacant for a few weeks while he was away, and had prudently had the utilities turned off while he was gone.
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According to AP, he retuned home after a few weeks only to discover his house had been demolished. He reportedly only discovered that the demolition had occurred when he drove past the place where his house should have been with his wife on Saturday.
Instead of seeing his home he instead saw an empty slab of concrete where his house had once stood.
"We looked up there and sure enough, it's gone," Underwood said, according to Fox News.
Underwood said that the house, built in 1951, had belonged to his family for decades and that his late grandmother had lived there.
The ranch-style home, located near Lake Worth reservoir, had three bedrooms.
Demolition workers apparently were supposed to have demolished a different house but mistakenly went to Underwood's address while he was away.
The condemned house that should have been demolished was still standing as of last week and it is not known when it will eventually be torn down. According to a neighbor, the home was supposed to be demolished since January.
The accident has been confirmed by the city of Fort Worth. Officials have released a statement to MyFoxDFW.com: "On July 12, 2013, contractors demolished the wrong property on Watercress Drive. The property to be demolished should have been 9708 Watercress Dr. The property that was demolished was a vacant structure located at 9716 Watercress Drive,"
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