real estate disclosing

[Caropooh]

If a serial killer had buried bodies(not sure if he killed them there or not) in a deserted area, bodies had been found and years later builders built homes there, does it need to be disclosed about bodies?
We live very close to where the Green River Killer(Gary Ridgeway) disposed of some of his bodies. There are now 700,000.00 homes built there. Would the bodies have been disclosed to interseted parties in buying homes?

 

[Ginamarie]

Nope. There's no law that you have to disclose something like that.

In NY we have something called a Real Property Disclosure. It's a statement about 20 or so aspects of a property that a seller needs to disclose OR the seller can just pay $500 and opt out of the disclosure.

NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE ever completes the disclosure. They all pay the $500.

 

[mrsv98]

In IL, we have the Residential Real Property Disclosure form and it is absolutely required of every seller. There are about 15 or so questions about seepage, lead paint, abspestos and the like but nothing else, not even an "other" category.

Since it isn't structural, I am betting something like possible dead bodies does not have to be disclosed.

It is a weird thought tho. I have know a couple of houses that have had murders in them, though they were committed by known people and not random. In both cases, the houses were cleaned up and sold. I don't think I could live in a house like that but obviously other people don't have those qualms.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Probably not. The houses were built after the fact, and are not a natural problem. Now, if he had killed them in a house then that house was sold, it might need to be disclosed. Or if we were talking about a house built on a landfill or a flood zone- somethat could cause a problem later it would need to be disclosed.

I drive by one of his favorite dumping sites 4-5 times a week going to work. One day I drove by and there was a bunch of vans, cars, police, etc. Turns out it was the day they let him out of jail to show them where he had dumped bodies at. It was creepy.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

In IL, we have the Residential Real Property Disclosure form and it is absolutely required of every seller. There are about 15 or so questions about seepage, lead paint, abspestos and the like but nothing else, not even an "other" category.

We also filled out something similar when we sold our first house nearly 2 years ago (in Washington.) And you fill it out to the best of your knowledge, you're not expected to research your property or anything. If you don't know if the house has asbestos in the popcorn ceiling, you check the box that says something like 'not to my knowledge'. However, if you have TESTED for asbestos and found that it is in the ceiling, then by law you must disclose this.

I think the disclosure relates specifically to your property, not the neighbor's, or down the street, or in the neighborhood. If you are thinking of selling and this is why you ask the question, talk to an agent. They can tell you what the questions are on the disclosure form. My guess is that this does not need to be disclosed.

 

[Caropooh]

Probably not. The houses were built after the fact, and are not a natural problem. Now, if he had killed them in a house then that house was sold, it might need to be disclosed. Or if we were talking about a house built on a landfill or a flood zone- somethat could cause a problem later it would need to be disclosed.

I drive by one of his favorite dumping sites 4-5 times a week going to work. One day I drove by and there was a bunch of vans, cars, police, etc. Turns out it was the day they let him out of jail to show them where he had dumped bodies at. It was creepy.

We live about a mile from Star Lake Rd, where a few bodies were. My DD's elemetary school is down the street and around the corner from it. Also, Mt View Cemetery is about 1 1/2 miles from us. I agree, it's creepy.

 

[barkley]

we sold here in california in may and had to fill out piles of disclosure forms. i recall that there was a specific question as to weather any deaths had occured on the property. i asked my agent about it (curious-we had'nt thankfully had that experience) and he advised that if a death had occured we would have had to provide info. on the circumstances (accidental, natural causes or homicide). in the event of accident or homicide-a potential buyer would have likely asked for disclosure of the circumstances.

california has some of the heaviest disclosure laws in the country-a potential buyer has the right to know everything, failing to disclose something can give the buyer the right to come back at you for the full purchase price and civil damages. one of the big issues with sellers now is the issue of 'sexual predators'-realtors use the state data base that is available to the public to do an address check around your home, if a registered predator lives within so much distance it's disclosed, if not you disclose to the buyer the website and advise them to check-you are not just selling your home, you are selling the neighborhood you live in.

 

[golfgal]

Each state/town is going to have different requirements. Technically, in MN you don't have to fill out a disclosure but almost everyone does so if you don't have one, good luck selling your home. I know that in the town I grew up in you have to disclose if you have had any ghost sightings or unnatural experiences.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Disclosure is really "structural" issues with homes and would not include dead bodies, would be my guess.

All I keep thinking about after reading your thought is the movie "Poltergeist".....

Missouri and Texas have disclosure and you have to right every detail down or they come back and sue your butt off.

 

[Martha7]

One of my friends, she used to DIS, but now frequents another board, grew up in the home of a family where the father had dispatched his son and disposed of the evidence in the fireplace. She said that her Dad was thrilled to buy the house, since it was so cheap, but that teenagers would drive by and yell out the car windows on Halloween. I remember seeing something about it years later in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, when they were going back in to search for more evidence. Don't know if they had to disclose it when they sold the house, or if they've even moved at all.

 

[momoftwins]

Our home was built with some potentially faulty siding. The builder knew about it, but said they didn't need to disclose since it was "potential"? problem?

Thanks!

 

[va32h]

In IL, we have the Residential Real Property Disclosure form and it is absolutely required of every seller. There are about 15 or so questions about seepage, lead paint, abspestos and the like but nothing else, not even an "other" category.

Since it isn't structural, I am betting something like possible dead bodies does not have to be disclosed.

It is a weird thought tho. I have know a couple of houses that have had murders in them, though they were committed by known people and not random. In both cases, the houses were cleaned up and sold. I don't think I could live in a house like that but obviously other people don't have those qualms.

We lived in a house in which there was a murder. The husband shot his two little boys, his wife, and then himself.

We struggled with the decision - but the price was right, we didn't have a lot of time to keep looking - we had just gotten to town and were living in a hotel while we looked for a rental house. And we knew the house had all new carpeting and paint, at least.

Since I didn't know the family at all, it didn't upset me to live there, although I did feel sad sometimes if for some reason I had to think of it. For example, one day I got a piece of mail addressed to the father - it was from the NRA, and the envelpe said 'your membership is up for renewal' on the outside, which struck me as horribly sick and ironic.

We did have some relatives who wouldn't sleep in our house on a visit - they got a hotel! And we didn't get many trick or treaters that year!

With that house, the agent did have to disclose the crime. However, the house we are renting now used to be occupied by an individual who is currently on the lamb for armed robbery. The agend did NOT disclose that, and it was most distressing with the bounty hunters and sherrifs started showing up on my doorstep.

I guess we just have bad luck with houses!

 

[Martha7]

I think the fact that certain relatives wouldn't spend the night might be a plus!

 

[rie'smom]

We don't have any opt out provisions in Louisiana. The things that have to be disclosed only deal with the house/property-flooding,fire,termites,etc.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Missouri and Texas have disclosure and you have to right every detail down or they come back and sue your butt off.

In certain cases we do have to disclose, but suicide for instance, is one that you don't have to disclose. Most people would probably want to know if someone died in the house that they're interested in, but legally, it's exempt from disclosure here.

However, as a real estate agent, we're told "if in doubt, disclose".

Texas does have very strict disclosure laws, and the lawsuit that can arise isn't a pretty one and not only could the seller get sued, the listing agent and the buyer's agent are liable too.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

We lived in a house in which there was a murder. The husband shot his two little boys, his wife, and then himself.

We had a similar situation here not too long ago. The house eventually went into foreclosure, because the shooter (the husband/father) went to prison.

In Texas, a foreclosure doesn't have disclosures. So, that put the burden on the realtor. I used to live in the subdivision; I knew the killings had taken place. I had to disclose what I knew to any buyers I showed the house to.

Eventually the house sold. I've often wandered in that case, what will happen if the new buyer finds out that the murders took place and the realtor didn't know about them, or failed to disclose it.

While the mortgage company was exempt from disclosure, a lawsuit could definitely be brought on by the buyers, against their agent. The agent would have to prove that they knew nothing about it. That would be a fun one.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Our home was built with some potentially faulty siding. The builder knew about it, but said they didn't need to disclose since it was "potential"? problem?

Thanks!

Masonite? We've had a TON of lawsuits in Texas over it.

Maybe you can find your answers here: http://parealtor.org/content/AssetMgmt/Legal Services/Laws & Regulations/Dislcosure - Inspection.pdf

 

[momoftwins]

No, it isn't masonite. I guess the siding the builder used was made by Alcoa. The defect was the siding could bubble after it was installed. It was only a certain color involved. If they had disclosed this to us, we certainly would not have picked the color.

Now, I will wonder what else they are hiding from us.

 

[MareQ]

Our home was built with some potentially faulty siding. The builder knew about it, but said they didn't need to disclose since it was "potential"? problem?

Thanks!

Curious what NJ disclosure laws are as well. Our builder knowingly sold us a house with a foundation that had been damaged. Instead of contacting a structural engineer and making appropriate repairs when the damage occured - they smacked some mortar on the joints and never told us.. We're in a HEATED battle that we're winning with him via the state warranty program - but we're curious if we can sue him for non-disclosure as well....

 

[Martha7]

My friend, (who's also a real estate agent and is trying to sell our home near Ann Arbor), told me that the home she lives in was part of a class action suit because of faulty siding installed in the 80's. The man who sold them the house didn't get it replaced, so now she'll have to do it at her expense. I wonder if that was part of the same siding problem.