Real Estate Blog - Celebrity murdered in a luxury condo --- disclosure required?

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Celebrity murdered in a luxury condo --- disclosure required?

Here's a hypothetical question to ponder.

chalk outline A salesperson named Roscoe has a client named Zane. Zane is a long time friend of the family and he listed his luxury condo for sale with Roscoe. Zane's condo is beautiful, immaculately clean and in a nice part of town.

But things get a little complicated from here.

Zane's condo was the site of a widely publicized and grizzly murder of a celebrity who lived in Zane's building. The celebrity's body was found in Zane's second bedroom. As a result of the murder, Zane had weeks of bad dreams until finally he moved to a hotel and enlisted Roscoe's services. Roscoe put the condo on the market and shortly there after it sold at open house to Deanna. Deanna thought it was sort of cool to be connected to the celebrity.

Roscoe kept in touch with Deanna through annual calendars and then a few years later when Deanna was ready to move she asked Roscoe to list the property. Roscoe listed the property for sale but he neglected to either disclaim or disclose the murder.

Sally bought the condo and then one night while reading Wikipedia, she finds out that her home was the site of the celebrity's final moments on this earth. Sally uses that room for her nursery.

Since Deanna and Roscoe did not disclose the murder, does Sally have an action against Roscoe, Deanna or for that matter Zane?

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is no requirement to disclose (or disclaim) "stigmatizing events".

Stigmatizing events are events which have no physical affect on the property. So, whether the property was the site of a homicide, felony, or suicide, the seller and agent are not required to disclose the event.

About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC. Will specializes in condos, townhouses and single family residences in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.

Posted by Will Nesbitt - condos / real estate in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County on 10/07/2008 07:08 AM

Comments (18)

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18 Comments on Celebrity murdered in a luxury condo --- disclosure required?

OCT

2008

This is the same in Massachusetts. Stigmatizing events and paranormals (ghosts) are not required to be disclosed. However, I recall hearing in Broker school that the agent still has the obligation to answer a question posed by the buyer honestly. That is to say, if the seller tells the agent that there are ghosts in the house, this does not need to be disclosed. However, if the buyer asks the listing agent if there are any ghosts, then the listing agent must answer that they have been told that there are ghosts in the house.

Same in Georgia and the anser above is right on . If asked you must disclose if you know . Nice post . I think every state is differnet in this regard

Good post reminds us to be careful when selling properties where an incident might have occurred. I agree with the answers above. Best wishes!

Well, this one does require a legal opinion. The law in a given state may not require disclosure UNLESS the buyer/buyer's agent specifically requests the information. However, I think it is always best to disclose something like this anyway...

Will Virginia is pretty tough on disclosure, but in this case you're right on. Stigmatizing events that have no physical affect on the property do not have to be disclosed unless the buyer asks. Good Post!

I would guess this would vary a bit from one state to another...hmmm...perhaps the spirit of the deceased will guard the nursery...it could be a lucky thing !

Same in Rhode Island. Honestly, I think if you know it and a buyer asks, you really should answer honestly.

I declined a listing in which there was a murder. I was not informed about the property's history. I noticed these brown spots all over the wallpaper and asked the seller's friend, who was asking me to look at the potential listing, what they were. She then disclosed that even in this retirement community, there was a jealous husband who shot his wife. I just declined getting involved.

June: that would not be a stigmatized property. Physical evidence of the murder changes the value of the property!

Good post. You are right about that too. Stigmatizing events have no physical affect on the property. I would probably want to disclose it if I know about it.

OCT

2008

How longer after a new buyer moves in does a neighbor tell them what happened?

Oh I say about as long as it took me to write there comments.

We had that happen in the town where I started real estate. The broker who ended up with the listing took the high road and disclosed it anyway. Property still sold...the end. Why does it have to be so dramatic?

OCT

2008

Grizzly indeed. In my state, Mississippi, we are required to disclose stignatized events, and it has been decided that you BETTER disclose. As Richard Weeks said above, if you don't tell them, what happens when the neighbors do? If it was a "famous" and well-publicized event (or even it if isn't) the truth will come out so you might as well face it and disclose immediately.

OCT

2008

Stigmatized properties need only be disclosed in Florida if a written request is made by the buyer.

I would rather disclose than have something come back and bite me later.

OCT

2008

When in doubt, disclose!

MAR

Whether you are required to disclose or not people who are sensitive will pick up on what happened. Even if they cannot put it into words it will just 'not feel right.'

It's not just the presence of a ghost, although murders and suicides are very likely to be lost and confused and remain where they died. The feelings and engery of the trauma / drama becomes stored in the energy of the building. We have all walked into a space and felt 'anger in the air' or 'creepy.' That's real.

All of that can be mitigated.

Any time a property acts like its stigmatized... gets little attention or strange rejections, languishes on the market and eventually sells at a reduce price... in my experience there is something like a stigmatizing event, but it is not known.

In the situation you describe a factor is that children, especially young children, typically can see, feel and hear ghosts. There are no imaginary playmates, just adults who no longer can see them.

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