New Orleans house wrongly torn down

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A New Orleans city contractor apparently never got the word a vacant house had been given a reprieve and demolished it this weekend, the home's owner alleges.

Erica DeJan, a pregnant mother-of-three, said miscommunication was the likely culprit for the contracting error that resulted in her New Orleans home being reduced to a pile of rubble, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.

DeJan said while she immediately contacted City Hall officials upon learning of the scheduled demolition of her home Friday, the order to rescind the demolition was never properly executed.

"It's just a lack of communication," DeJan said. "It's not being on the same wavelength."

DeJan acknowledged the home she and her husband Brian bought in New Orleans had been deemed a public nuisance because of damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Yet she told The Times-Picayune they had plans to renovate the house back to its former glory.

A city official told the newspaper the case would be investigated fully before any in-depth comments on the matter could be made.