{"id":6879,"date":"2020-10-30T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.niagaralaw.ca\/?p=6879"},"modified":"2023-04-11T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T15:41:18","slug":"haunted-houses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/haunted-houses\/","title":{"rendered":"Haunted Houses"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Raphael Ofagbe<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it\ncomes to buying and selling Haunted Houses in Ontario, the doctrine of \u2018caveat\nemptor\u2019, aka \u2018buyer beware\u2019 is still in force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ontario,\nthere are no explicit laws requiring a vendor to disclose that the house they\nare selling is believed to be haunted, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can or should\nhide your home\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is still\ntrue that vendors have no legal requirement to disclose what is referred to as \u2018stigma\u2019\nrelated to the house or property.  Stigma\ncould come from anything such as a violent crime committed onsite, a suicide,\nor even alleged paranormal activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nreal estate agents are governed by the Real Estate Council of Ontario.  RECO suggests that while there is no specific\nrequirement for agents to proactively disclose the existence of stigma such as criminal\nhistory or alleged hauntings, there is an obligation for agents to act with \u201cfairness,\nhonesty, and integrity\u201d when dealing with other parties to a real estate\ntransaction.  The Ontario Real Estate\nAssociation similarly believes that realtors have an ethical obligation in this\nsituation, and should disclose potentially stigmatizing issues.  This includes hauntings or paranormal\nactivity, even though there is no scientific or physical proof of ghosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what can you do\nto avoid buying a haunted house?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a\nprospective buyer, you should have a discussion with your agent and let them\nknow of any concerns you have regarding the property, and any issues you may\nhave regarding stigmas.  Specific\nquestions should be asked of the vendor or their agent, and the agent or vendor\nwould be obliged to either give an honest answer or to decline to answer at\nall.  This will help you find a property\nthat meets your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if you\u2019ve\nalready bought a haunted house?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve already\npurchased a haunted house, or house affected by some other stigma, and are\nupset, what happens next will depend entirely on the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In British\nColumbia, a buyer for a house was initially able to get back their $300,000\ndeposit after they learned about a suspected gang related murder which took\nplace onsite.  The deposit was ordered\nreturned not because the murder amounted to a latent defect in the property, which\nwould have required disclosure to the buyer, but rather due to fraudulent\nmisrepresentation on the part of the vendor regarding their decision to\nsell.  However, this decision was\noverturned on appeal.  The appeal court\nemphasized the doctrine of caveat emptor, and placed responsibility on the\nbuyer to ask specific questions regarding the buyer\u2019s own likes and dislikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013,\nJustice Sloan dismissed a claim about the purchase of a commercial building\nwhich was later alleged to be haunted. \nUltimately, Justice Sloan found that while stigma can include alleged\nhauntings, the plaintiffs would have had to prove that the building was unfit\nfor use as a result of the alleged haunting. \nThere would have to be proof of loss or damage as a result of the stigma\nof the haunting, and the haunting would have to be proven to have actually\nhappened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may end up being difficult to\nprove that the alleged haunting, or other stigmatizing\nevent, occurred, that it caused you to suffer damage or loss, that it\nrendered the building or property as uninhabitable, and\/or that the\nvendor and their agent knew about it and did not disclose that\ninformation. That\u2019s why it is important to work with a trusted team of\nprofessionals at the outset.  If you express your specific concerns\nassociated with hauntings and other stigmatizing events, steps can be taken by\nyour lawyer and your realtor to protect you prior to closing. The real\nestate law team at Daniel & Partners LLP can help you close your real\nestate transaction, and would be happy to review any offer to Purchase before\nacceptance or after with a lawyer review condition.  They can also assist\nif you have purchased a home in reliance upon misrepresentations or have found\nlatent defects in a property that were not disclosed to you.  Please\ncontact our office today to set up an appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Halloween!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blog post written by Sarah J. Draper<\/a>\nand Karen Shedden<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to buying and selling Haunted Houses in Ontario, the doctrine of \u2018caveat emptor\u2019, aka \u2018buyer beware\u2019 is still in force. In Ontario, there are no explicit laws requiring a vendor to disclose that the house they are selling is believed to be haunted, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can or should hide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7943,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6879\/revisions\/7943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/niagaralaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}