Man Returns Home From Lengthy Medical Recuperation To Find West Hempstead Home Demolished By Town

WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island man received quite a shock after returning home from a long medical recuperation, only to find his house had been demolished.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, it was a disturbing homecoming for Phil Williams, who had just returned home after recovering from knee surgery.

"Wait a second, maybe I'm not on the right street," he said.

Then, the shocking realization that the empty lot he was in front of is where his house once stood.

"Everything I have, or had, is gone," Williams said.

The house was demolished as part of an ongoing effort in the Town of Hempstead to clean up the scourge of "zombie" houses, Gusoff reported.

The problem, according to Williams' attorney, is that the West Hempstead home was not abandoned.

"They went too far. This house should not have been demolished, and they went too fast," said attorney Bradley Siegel.

Town officials claim they "followed all proper procedures," notifying Williams with repeated registered letters beginning last October.

Deemed a danger, they tore down the house in May.

All the while, Williams said he was hospitalized and recuperating from knee surgery in Florida, and not receiving his mail.

"Someone could have called me. Someone could have notified me and said 'Hey listen, here is what's going on,'" said Williams.

The 69-year-old veteran's furniture, collections, jewelry -- all gone, Gusoff reported.

The town, however, tells a very different story, claiming the house was a hazard. Neighbors said they've complained for years.

"The house was abandoned. That's the way it looked," said one woman

"Windows broken, leaks all over, lots of trash," said another neighbor.

But Williams denied it was that bad.

Towns everywhere are grappling with the foreclosure crisis and the process to demolish can take years.

"He was paying his mortgage. There was no foreclosure. This was not a zombie house," said Siegel.

Williams is now suing the town. He wants to know what happened to all his possessions. In the meantime, he considers himself homeless.

The Town of Hempstead said it held a public hearing on the fate of the house in February. Williams said he never got that notice either.