Does Your State Require Full Disclosure?

Jason, Here is the quote from our Disclosure: The sellers check yes or no.

"Any death on the Property except for those deaths cause by: natural causes, suicide, or accident unrelated to the condition of the Property"

In case you wanted to know.  In an MCE class I asked about the suicide and that's when I learned about the mental illness thing. Crazy! No pun intended!  :)

In Tennessee you must disclose material facts about the house itself; not necessarily events that may have happened in or around it.

Having said that I believe if you know about anything such as a suicide, murder, etc., you probably need to tell prospective buyers because if you don't you know the neighbors will be lining up to tell them when they move in and what do you look like then.

Michigan does not require disclosure on stigmatized properties.  This is a bit of a grey (dark) area.  As a sellers agent you can not disclose this information without the sellers consent.  As a buyers agent you do not have to disclose by statute but would I, yes.  Just like Jim said, neighbors line up to tell the gruesome issues concerning any deaths that happen on a property. 

The reason most states do not have this law on the books is because real estate lobbyists worked to get it off!  If you "stigmatize" a property you lower it's value along with neighboring properties!  Do ghosts jump from house to house?  I lived in a house where a suicide had taken place, by hanging, for those of you who jumped to weapon.  I did not know as a kid until later this event had taken place.  I learned at school form a classmate!  I relayed the information to my parents....they knew that is how they got such a great deal on the house!  So who knows.  I probably am with Jason....not for me or my wife.

In California, our "Supplemental Statutory and Contractual Disclosures" form asks the seller if he is aware of "within the last 3 years, the death of an occupant of the property upon the property."   This is a disclosure requirement, unless the death was a result of AIDs, which is protected by anti-discrimination law. More details are available at the California Association of Realtors website.

If it happened more than 3 years ago, it should still be disclosed to the buyer, because you know the neighbors will tell them later!  If the buyer feels creepy about it, or has religious or cultural issues, they should have the right to know before buying!

Fascinating responses; makes me glad I do business in Virginia.

Sellers of properties here in our area have an option of presenting a buyer with either one of the two forms prepared in accordance with the Commonwealth's law.  A Property Disclosure or a Property Disclaimer form.

The former consists of about 15 questions which require either a yes, no, don't know, or does not apply response.  The disclaimer says, basically, what you see is what you get; the property is sold "as is."

Most sellers prepare the disclaimer version.

There is also a comment pertaining to sex offenders on each.  The address of the state webpage where data on sex offenders is revealed is on the page.  It is incumbent on buyers to research for themselves if they want such information.

Thank goodness I do not have to comply with telling people about ghosts or other perceived apparitions.

We do, in addition, have to disclose material defects of which we are aware though.

In Iowa, we are ONLY required to disclose "material adverse facts" that could/would:

1) Influence a person's decision as to whether to buy a home or not.

2) Influence the terms/conditions upon which the buyer would purchase a property.

We are not required to, nor are we expected to, disclose adverse facts about the property which are not of a material (i.e structural/mechanical) nature.

However, I myself would probably disclose a murder to my clients, if I was represnting the buyers.

There is a home located here in my home-town in which the owner killed his wife, then cut her body into little pieces with a chain saw and threw them in the river.... no kidding..... 

If this home ever came on the market, and I was to show it to my clients, you can bet I would disclose this information to them.. They would find out eventually if they bought the home.

PS.  the killer in the above mentioned example is now selling tacos out of his own restaurant, still in my home-town.

NO KIDDING!!

Jason...

We had this discussion many years ago when I was a Director on our local BOR. One of biggest issues we have here in Florida is 'stigmatizing' a property.

I also would like to know if someone passed away in a house before I bought it. But, I do understand why our State does not require us to disclose this. Once a home is 'stigmatized' this way it can not be undone.

TLW...ROAR!

In Maine, as in a few of the other states above, we have to disclose material facts that may or may not have an adverse bearing on the house - they refer to structural and environmental issues only, anything tangible.  There is nothing on our disclosures that speaks to illegal acts, murders and mayhem - and as far as the "hauntings" I've been asked before about prior deaths in a house.  With all the old homes in New England, many, many of them have had deaths in them, and only once has a client ever asked me about that!  Also, about that cemetary, doesn't the deed speak to a burial plot in any way?  As far as I know, they all do. And almost every title company is going to refer to it, or discover it, in their research.  That one is a mystery!

Just curious - where some people believe in hauntings and some don't, I wonder how we would even call that a "fact" that would impact a sale - truly, isn't that hearsay, and as such, not proveable? (no matter our belief)

This type of disclosure is not required in Oklahoma but I've often wondered if it should be. I can see both sides to it and am personally undecided on whether or not it should be law. Interesting post, thanks!

You are right, in Fla, we do not have to disclose that and I agree with it. 

There seems to be some confusion in the state of Texas about disclosure so I got online at the Texas Association of Realtors website to find an answer.  The legal department states we should disclose murder.  Here is there direct quote "Since a murder occurring on the property might be considered a material fact concerning the property that a buyer would want to know in deciding whether to purchase the property, it's probably prudent for sellers to disclose this fact."

Hope that clears it up!