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I been looking at a house recently, 5000 sq feet, nice area in Denver and had been flipped but offering it so cheap. Every single thing in the house has been replaced.. I mean everything. I walked in and it smelled of cigarette smoke and just stale or something. I asked the flipper why the house stunk? She said the original owners were heavy smokers and she had no idea why it smelled but was having the brick scrubbed and the furnace looked at.
SO I called today and asked how the smell was and she said it's better. But then she said well there is a history to his house, the parents came home from dinner and found their 32 year old son dead.
Now I am thinking... maybe the son has been dead doe awhile, maybe thats why the house smells. I am glad she told me, I think she is trying to turn me off the property because she saw my 2 little girls and didnt seem to think it was a good house for them. Now I know why.
where can I get police reports for houses in denver?
Realtors are obligated to disclose these sorts of things officially in their listings. They can get into a lot of trouble if they knew about a suicide, death, murder, pot house in the property they are selling and not disclosing such things to perspective buyers.
If you want to do some of your own detective work you can do the following to find more information:
a) Determine who the current owners of the home are though the county assessor records and do an online search to see if any news stories come up about a suicide. Alternatively, search the county's death records to see if the names come up and a cause of death is listed.
b) Do a search of the address online and see if any news stories come up
I'm not too familiar with the freedom of information act to know if police reports can be accessed under the act.
I know Florida, AZ, CO and many more states that there is no requirement to disclose a suicide or death.
In Florida pursuant to Section 689.25, Florida Statutes, a homicide, suicide or death needn’t be disclosed to a prospective buyer in a real estate transaction because it’s not a material fact that requires disclosure.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Here it is not subject to disclosure law which is meant to reveal current or potential hazards. There may be some states where violent crime/suicide is still required but here in ours it has been eliminated, on the grounds that suicide or other death has no affect on the value of a property. A crack house, for example, would have to be disclosed not because of the crimes but because of the potentially toxic residues.
In Texas deaths that are caused by the house (fell down the stairs, faulty heater, things of that nature) must be disclosed. Deaths for other reasons are not required to be disclosed.
I seriously doubt that the death in the house in the period of time that the parents were out to dinner would cause an odor. But you can always have the house smudged (spiritually cleansed) if it would make you feel better.
The smell of death is unforgettable. There is no way stale cigarette smoke could be mistaken for it. If the previous owners were heavy smokers then I can see the flipper trying to replace everything. My FIL is probably the worst chain smoker I have ever met. I swear everything in his place has a yellow haze on it. A friend of a friend years ago lost their son to suicide. He was a teenager and hung himself in the basement. The mother couldnt take living there so they sold the house. This could be a similar situation.
There is no way the flipper saw your 2 children and decided the house was not good for your family.
You know this because.......?
the wife showed me the house 2 times and both times tried to talk me into other houses they were working on, even though the homes were smaller and I made it clear I was not interested in those areas.
She is a nice woman, her husband is not so much, he would have never told me.
I called her up again and that's when she told me the history of the house, then again tried to talk me into another house in which I do not like how it is designed.
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