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I have a rather morbid question. Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of "A Haunting"......
Are real estate agents required to tell you if someone died in a home? Does it depend on the circumstances in which the person died? Is there a law regarding this? Is it in the RE code of ethics?
I have asked 4 different RE agents and have received 4 different answers.
Some answers made sense, others were just absolutely silly(one said they don't have to tell you anything, another said all deaths must be disclosed, the other said only if it was murder, the last said only if the body was on the property for more than 48 hrs).
I would greatly appreciate your insight!
PS - I am NOT a troll. This is a real question. My bf & I are house hunting, and we think it's important to know the history of a home. I apologize in advance if anyone is offended by my question. I know that not everyone believes in this type of stuff, but I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night with a ghost at the foot of the bed.
This is kind of crazy. Any house where an old person lived has a good chance they died in the home. Who would keep this information? I mean, if my grandmother dies at home and then the house is sold, who is going to keep track that she died at that house? I don't think a death certificate gives the address of where someone dies. How would a realtor find this information anyway? In any case, it's probably best to not know at all.
You're definitely right about homes owned by older people. There's a good chance they died in the home.
Wouldn't the listing agent of the home in question know that a person died in it? I think that would be something the deceased person's relatives/estate would have to tell the listing agent.
Anyway, I would definitely want to know if someone died in the house. Maybe it'll be a friendly ghost like Casper!
Under NJ state law, agents are NOT obligated to disclose unless the buyers specifically ASK. There's another question to add to your arsenal while home shopping. The info most likely won't be volunteered. Personally, I wouldn't care if someone died in the house under "natural" causes; but I would if someone were murdered or committed suicide there. Just too creepy for my blood.
Wouldn't the listing agent of the home in question know that a person died in it? I think that would be something the deceased person's relatives/estate would have to tell the listing agent.
But if you're buying an older home, someone could have died 30 years ago and the house may have been bought/sold many times during that period with different real estate agents. I think it would be almost impossible to be 100% sure anyone did or did not die in a particular house.
Both my parents died in the house I grew up in, my father many years before my mom. When we sold it after my mom died we did not have to disclose that. My father died of a Heart Attack, my Mom, cancer. Trust me my Mom went straight to heaven, no haunting the house.
Diane G
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