Brian and Erica Dejan are looking for answers after the City of New Orleans ordered the demolition of a house that the couple had just purchased.
The property at 5132 Kendall Drive was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and the Dejans recently bought the Gentilly Woods property with the intent of rebuilding it.
They were already well into the remodeling process when contractors hired by the city started knocking down the house on Saturday.
"My husband was getting ready to go to work," Erica Dejan told WWL First News. "And he heard a 'crunching' sound, and he passes the house....and he comes back and says, 'you're not going to believe that they're tearing down the house!"
Dejan says they rushed over to the house and told the foreman that their house had been approved for remodeling by the city and should not have been scheduled for demolition.
The crew continued to wreck the house.
Dejan said that the foreman told them, "well, if it's on the list, it's on the list."
"He told me, basically, that he had done me a favor by tearing down my house, that was only thirty percent damaged," she said.
Listen to WWL's Jay Vice's interview with Erica Dejan:
The couple says they've gotten little explanation from city officials so far.
Dejan says she's a life-long New Orleans resident, and is frustrated by the lack of communication from the city.
"You're sending the notice to a house that is supposed to be demolished. Who does that? How can you certify something to a place that no one lives at?"
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