12 Detroit Houses Demolished Accidentally, Including Couple's Newly Bought Home

Imagine purchasing a home at an auction only to check up on it weeks later -- and find it completely demolished. This was the case for artists Kristine Diven and Micho "Detronik" McAdow.

The couple had purchased a dilapidated two-story townhouse in Detroit (pictured at left) for $500 at a tax auction in October 2012. They had planned to entirely renovate the home so they could move into it by spring of this year.

But weeks later, when they drove to the home on the city's east side to get measurements for boards that they were planning to have installed, the couple was shocked to discover that their house was nothing but "a pile," Diven told The Detroit News. (The couple is pictured with the remnants above.) And their house wasn't the only one: 11 other properties, which had been purchased by a local investor, were also demolished.

According to Detroit's planning and facilities department, it was a mistake made by the state's Land Bank Fast Track Authority -- who had demolished all 12 properties as part of a program to eliminate blight near three local schools.

According to the state government, the 12 homes shouldn't even have been sold at auction. In fact, the Fire Department had identified the buildings as "vacant and dangerous," reports The Detroit News, and ordered them to be demolished in June.

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Diven's home was demolished the day before the deed of its purchase was recorded. The city, though not responsible for the mistake, has offered Diven and McAdow a list of city-owned properties that they can buy instead. But Diven says they don't compare to the "diamond in the rough" that was the house they bought at auction.

The couple was refunded the $500 they paid for the now-demolished home.

See also:
Detroit Home Listed as 'Beautiful and Historic,' and a 'Target for Local Criminals'
20 Cities Where Foreclosure Home Sales Should Rise in 2013
Top 10 Turnaround Housing Markets in 2012

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