When buying a house in illinois, is the seller legally required to tell the buyer about deaths natural, murder, suicide that occured in the house?
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When buying a house in illinois, is the seller legally required to tell the buyer about deaths natural, murder, suicide that occured in the house?
my sister is buying a house in illinois and she
wants to know if seller is required by law to tell
her about death that occured. And if the seller
said no but later found out that a natural death
or any kind of death occured, what will
happen?
Asked on July 8, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
No, there is no law whatsoever requiring this. The home seller is obligated to disclose "latent" conditions in the home of which he or she is aware--that is, problems with the house that are not readily discernible by a buyer, like flooding that happens in heavy rain (you'd only see it if it rained while you were viewing the home) or knob-and-tube wiring (which you would not see unless you cut into the walls). But deaths in a home are not issues with the house and are not required to be disclosed.
However, a directly lie about an important or "material" fact is also not allowed: if your sister is concerned about this, she needs to tell the seller and agent that she believes in (whatever she believes in: spirits; ghosts; negative psychic energy; hauntings; etc.) and that it is very important (that is, "material") to her to know about any deaths in the house (that is, she would not buy a house or live in one that had either any death or at least certain kinds of deaths), and ask them if they are aware of any. They don't need to do research on the topic, but if they are aware of any and lie, that *could* provide a basis to possibly get out of the sale or to sue for compensation (e.g. the cost of a psychic "cleansing").
You sister should also thoroughly "Google" the home--she may find information about this herself.
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