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We just discovered that the previous owner of our house molested children here and then hanged himself, also in this house. No one told us anything about this before we bought. We had to find out from our neighbors. Do we have any recourse?
I don't know what was done by a previous owner would have anything to do with current owners and how they live their lives. It is a house and the house did nothing but be a house and it cannot control what is done by those who live there.
Why would that have to be disclosed, I don't see the logic in it.
I don't believe in possessed properties or ghosts. Resale value could be affected. But 25 years from now, most of the neighbors who knew what happened will have moved away. Things pass with time (unless the address has a Google record of the events - then it will live on).
I currently live in a 30+ year old apartment complex. My walls have probably seen some horrendous acts committed by previous tenants.
I don't know what was done by a previous owner would have anything to do with current owners and how they live their lives. It is a house and the house did nothing but be a house and it cannot control what is done by those who live there.
Why would that have to be disclosed, I don't see the logic in it.
"Because it's illegal to lie about a home's condition or history in response to a direct question, be doubly sure to ask the owner or agent if any of the aforementioned stigmas apply to the home you're seeking"
"in most jurisdictions, there's a time limit for how long a home is considered stigmatized."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky-Blue
I don't believe in possessed properties or ghosts. Resale value could be affected. But 25 years from now, most of the neighbors who knew what happened will have moved away. Things pass with time (unless the address has a Google record of the events - then it will live on).
It doesn't just apply to you. Should you decide to sell, depending on jurisdiction, you will have to disclose the property's dicey history if a certain amount of time hasn't elapsed. And then guess what? The property will sit on the market an average of 45% longer, with a sale price 3% less than market value.
Quote:
"A study at Wright State University published in 2000 found that stigmatized homes lingered on the market 45 percent longer than average. It also found, somewhat surprisingly, that a stigma caused the sale price to drop by an average of only 3 percent."
Yes and I still don't see why it would matter. It is still a house and the house itself had nothing to do with what was done by those who lived there. If someone is so scared their potential home is tainted in some way they should just build a brand new shiny pretty and be done with it. I can guess though, that property they build on will at some point have had someone buried on it.
There was also a story about some website, I think it must have been Google but admit I didn't hear which one, blocked out the street view of the property.
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