Paranormal Activity
Paranormal activity is the subject of a Go Iowa Awesome article: “From a December 13th, 2012 Daily Iowan article by Ben Ross:
“Every night when he got ready to go to bed, Hawkeye baseball player Trevor Kenyon, living at 508 North Dubuque Street, usually left his TV on the Big Ten Network. One night, he decided to fall asleep to FX.”
“When he returned to his room after brushing his teeth, he discovered his TV had been changed to BTN. Kenyon turned the TV off and put the remote on the floor next to his bed. When he rolled over, he discovered the remote next to him on the pillow. After that, Kenyon turned the TV back on to BTN and let “Tim” watch sports as he fell asleep.”
Kenyon lived in a house with four other baseball players and a club hockey player. Supposedly, they’d noticed some paranormal activity over a couple of years including the figure of a little girl, chairs moving at night and doors slamming.
Cedar Rapids houses in which a murder or suicide happened or where there are rumors of haunts or paranormal activity fall under the subject of stigmatized property. “Stigmatized properties in Cedar Rapids are homes where a real or rumored event occurred that didn’t physically affect the property but could adversely impact its desirability.”
A seller has an obligation to disclose in writing that there are no hidden defects in the home. Common law for decades imposed duties on sellers of real estate, especially private houses. A realtor is supposed to disclose to the buyer any material facts known to the seller affecting the value or desirability of the real estate for sale.
If you are a seller of a property where there was a gruesome murder or if your neighbors believe the house is haunted, do you have an obligation to tell potential buyers? No, you don’t legally. The Cedar Rapids realtor representing the seller has a fiduciary duty to the seller. You can choose not to represent the seller, however, if the seller is adamant that the information stays hidden.
If you are the buyer, a stigmatized property could be a deal breaker in determining the value of the house. If you are a realtor representing the buyer, you should share that kind of information . Without telling your buyer about paranormal activity, you could lose the buyer’s trust by misrepresenting the property.
Some realtors like to ask, trying a little humor, have any murders or suicides taken place on the property? If yes, the realtor should disclose the facts, especially if the event happened recently. The deeper into history the event happened, the better for the seller. Hauntings and paranormal activity are of the kind that you had to be there to believe.
A realtor may regard the market’s aversion to crime scenes as temporary. For a time, the tragedy hammers the Cedar Rapids property’s value, making it impossible or difficult to sell. We recommend occupying the home or renting it out for two to five years.
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