A Georgia homeowner returns from vacation and finds his property destroyed

An Atlanta woman continues to ponder her next move after a company mistakenly demolished a home she owned on the city's southwest side.

Susan Hodgson said when she returned from vacation last month, she found only a pile of rubble instead of her longtime family possessions.

"I'm furious," Hodgson said. "I wake up and think, '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 demolish the vacant house.

"I said 'no,' and he said: 'Well, there's somebody here who just knocked the whole house down and destroyed it,'" Hodgson recalled.

When a neighbor stopped the workers, Hodgson said they became rude.

"He told her to shut up and stay out of it," Hodgson said.

She sent a family member to see what was going on and asked to show permission.

When the person in charge at the construction site checked his permit, Hodgson said he admitted he was at the wrong address.

"This house has been boarded up for about 15 years and we have always monitored its condition, maintained the grass and landscaped the lot," she said. "The taxes have also been paid, and everything is in order."

Hodgson said she has filed a police report and has spoken with attorneys, but so far they are indecisive.

"We're still in the process of figuring out what to do," she said. "We continue to bid in different directions to see what happens."

So far, according to her, the Atlanta-based company "You Call It We Haul It" has not contacted her.

“How can people just come in and destroy someone’s property, and then just leave?” Hodgson said. “How can they think that’s okay?

The company did not immediately respond to the voicemail left on Saturday. In a statement to WAGA-TV, the company said it is conducting an investigation and working on resolving the situation.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.