Non-Disclosure of Murder (Ontario)

Non- Disclosure of the Murder

A recent decision of the BC Court of Appeal confirmed that a Seller did not have to volunteer the fact that a murder had taken place.. There’s actually nothing new. The trial decision was out of step with other cases, so now they are all aligned.

There are separate and distinct obligations depending upon your “status”, if you are:

1)    The Seller,

2)    The Listing Agent,

3)    The Buyer’s Agent.

And, then for registrants is the question of “who” do you tell:

1)    Your own Client,

2)    Your own Customer,

3)    The other side in the deal.

And, after that, is the question of “what” do you tell:

1)    Latent defects,

2)    Material facts.

The result, of course, is that there are a lot of combinations, with numerous correct answers once you determine 1) status, 2) to whom you are speaking and 3) what to tell. Unfortunately, many will offer only one response to all of the issues.

You can be sued if you don’t tell enough, and you can be sued if you tell too much!