Legally a house can be haunted and failure to disclose that the property is haunted can constitute fraudulent misrepresentation and is grounds for recession of contract. Meaning poltergeists are legally treated the same as termites or other pests.
This sounds like a cryptid post but this is actual U.S. case law.
The issue came up in a case where a family bought a house and later discovered it was on a ghost tour. The buyer had no way of knowing the house was haunted since that’s no something buyer’s usually ask, but the previous owner knew and should have disclosed it. Since the owner had reported paranormal activity in both local and national publications describing at length how haunted the house was court decided he couldn’t very well say there’s no such thing as ghosts now.
This resulted in legal president that recognizes the existence of haunted houses. Also the court’s opinion is probably the most entertaining legal opinion you will ever read.
i would love to see smth where someone moves into a new house, finds out its haunted, and their first and lasting reaction is im gonna sue the shit out of that bastard who sold me this house
You go to a ghost movie expecting the standard horror fare only to discover it’s actually a legal drama
I am duty bound to tag @ramblingandpie (although I know it’s different branch of law)
I have studied this case though! And the decision is kind of amazing. Like. The Judge just threw in as many ghost puns as he possibly could.
And it is also a SUPER important case in NYS law that basically establishes that a seller cannot lie by omission about anything super unusual about a house that would not show up on a routine inspection! Like if people will come by in a bus every day and gawk at your house and try to come up to your windows to peek inside and basically be All Up In Your Grill. It also establishes that a seller cannot intentionally cover up a significant defect.
And, yeah. Ghost puns.
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