Pocono News Section

House Condemned After I-Team Report

House Condemned After I-Team Report - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 5:42PM EST

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- An I-Team investigation into questionable living conditions for foreign exchange students has moved the city of Scranton to action. The city has condemned a house after seeing our report. That house was home to a foreign exchange student from Nigeria.
The home on Myrtle Street was so filthy that now no one is allowed to live there. The question now is how could anyone place a teenager in those conditions? They are teenagers who came to America expecting to see the best our country has to offer. Instead they saw the worst.

Scranton building inspectors condemn the home on Myrtle Street Wednesday. It used to be the home for a foreign exchange student. Scranton Building Inspector Mark Seitzinger said, "We're here to follow up on conditions of the home at 810 Myrtle Street. We’re her to follow up on reports and your newscast to try to rectify the situation with the owner."

The home is owned by Edna Burgett, who was the coordinator for the Aspect Foundation in California. The foundation places foreign exchange students in American homes.

Mrs. Burgett allowed us inside to respond to claims by a student from Nigeria and another host mother about the filth. And we found lots of dog feces.

As city inspectors did their work, a relative of Mrs. Burgett arrived and denied there was a problem inside. But the building inspector disagreed.

“We have conditions inside that are unhealthy and unsafe right now that need to be taken care of immediately. We can't allow anyone to stay inside due to the conditions. We don't want anyone to get sick," added Seitzinger.