Any latent defect know to a vendor that affects the value or use of a house ought to be disclosed. (A patent defect -- one easy to observe -- need not be disclosed).
So, if there is a regular nightly apparition or ongoing shaking of chains, and if these ghostly appearances are not immediately (patently) apparent, then they should be disclosed. This is especially so if the ghosts appear only at night so that a home inspector would not be able to observe them in a customary inspection.
Where the supernatural effects are more serious, say where walls of a house bleed, and the blood is visible to a casual inspection, it may be that disclosure is not legally necessary. The bloody walls would be patently obvious.
In a case where a property is not actually haunted but is merely reputed to be haunted there is likely no need for formal disclosure but prudence would suggest a vendor would be well advised to disclose, in writing, that there is a widespread belief the property has ghosts.
Indeed, it may be that such disclosure would increase the value of the property as some people enjoy the concept of ghosts. (In my experience such people have limited experience with real ghosts and base their ideas on Casper rather than, say, Hamlet's dad).
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
3 comments:
Are sellers or their agents required to admit if there has been a murder at the property?
and what about if someone died in the home just due to illness/natural causes? does that have to be disclosed? and does it matter really if someone did die there?
Flipside, there is a house near mine where a man murdered his wife. He drugged her then set the house on fire. She burned to death. The house has been fixed up, he's gone to jail. The house has been up for sale since then (2 years now) and no takers. Big problem - it's a semi-detached. The poor people on the other side put their half up for sale for a while but couldn't sell. This is a good lesson for anyone else out there living in semi-detached homes maybe.
Good question -- my thinking is if the murder affects the value -- of course it does -- it is a latent defect and should be disclosed. But I don't have a case on point so this is my view only!
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