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Contractor demolishes wrong house

SKORPI0

SKORPI0

Lifer
5D7FF794-C7BD-42A7-A43F-2D0CC37133CA.jpg

"All that's left is this hay," says Andre Hall, 40, while standing where his house used to stand at 3224 Motor St. in the West End.

http://us.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/01/07/exp.nr.home.demolished.mistake.cnn?hpt=T2
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_716864.html

A Pennsylvania contractor mistakenly levels the wrong house and leaves a family with nowhere to live.

WTF. D:
 
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WTF. How do you not double/triple/eleventy million check that you are about to level the correct house before proceeding with something.
 
Fingolfin269 said:
WTF. How do you not double/triple/eleventy million check that you are about to level the correct house before proceeding with something.
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What if all the checks say it's the right house? Someone could have mistyped the address rather than him misreading it.
 
Malak said:
What if all the checks say it's the right house? Someone could have mistyped the address rather than him misreading it.
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Then the 'checks' need to be changed. This sort of thing should never happen. And if it does happen the consequences should be such that companies will ensure it NEVER happens.
 
tenshodo13 said:
Would the cash cover the cost of the house + all property in said house + misc damages?
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That I don't know. Home owner should have their own insurance as well, given that they had a loan for the house/property. He'll at least get an amount to what it could cost to rebuild a house a vacant plot of land, but the other details depend on the specifics in the insurance policy and what it covers.
 
Bateluer said:
That I don't know. Home owner should have their own insurance as well, given that they had a loan for the house/property. He'll at least get an amount to what it could cost to rebuild a house a vacant plot of land, but the other details depend on the specifics in the insurance policy and what it covers.
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I haven't looked at my insurance policy lately but I have a feeling it doesn't cover someone deciding to level my home. Maybe I should call my insurance co. to be sure now that you mention it though.
 
As a contractor that does demo work, this has always been one of my worst fears. We are extremely careful to ensure that we demo the correct house, but sometimes when doing work for a private individual we worry that the individual may not actually have title to the house even though they tell us they do.

I have gone so far as to pay for a title search on one project we were doing because it just didn't feel right. Sure enough the guy telling us to knock it down didn't have title to the house. He was in the process of purchasing it but the deal had not yet closed. I asked him to come back when he had title, but we never saw him again.

As for the costs to the contractor, his GL policy should cover this, but I would bet there will be a fight over what the value is of a condemned house.
 
D1gger said:
As a contractor that does demo work, this has always been one of my worst fears. We are extremely careful to ensure that we demo the correct house, but sometimes when doing work for a private individual we worry that the individual may not actually have title to the house even though they tell us they do.

I have gone so far as to pay for a title search on one project we were doing because it just didn't feel right. Sure enough the guy telling us to knock it down didn't have title to the house. He was in the process of purchasing it but the deal had not yet closed. I asked him to come back when he had title, but we never saw him again.

As for the costs to the contractor, his GL policy should cover this, but I would bet there will be a fight over what the value is of a condemned house.
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Dam....glad you actually checked. If you didn't, who would be liable? You or the guy that told you to do it?
 
When they interview the guy, the first thing he complains about are his tools being gone and the effort he put in the house....After that, then he talks about his family not have a place to live...I wonder if he prioritizes those items in that order sub-consciously...
 
Gibson486 said:
Dam....glad you actually checked. If you didn't, who would be liable? You or the guy that told you to do it?
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It would have been a huge bun fight, but I think it is likely that I would have been tagged with at least partial damages, which I would try to recover from the creep.
 
The contractor and/or their insurance should build a brand new house on that lot plus some nice amenities in it as compensation.
 
Phokus said:
The contractor and/or their insurance should build a brand new house on that lot plus some nice amenities in it as compensation.
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But they won't, they'll get a shitty estimate of what the condemned house was worth, subtract the value of the lot, and offer the rest as a settlement.
 
FDF12389 said:
But they won't, they'll get a shitty estimate of what the condemned house was worth, subtract the value of the lot, and offer the rest as a settlement.
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Well yeah insurance companies are shitty, i'm just saying what SHOULD happen.
 
You guys gotta watch the CNN video. Right before they cut back to the anchor in the studio the guy says "I come back to an empty lot." Then she says "That's right, a whole lot of nothing." LMAO.
 
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