Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bogebaum here. Helen Ackley and her family lived with ghosts for years in their turn of the century Victorian in upstate New York. One ghost would shake the children's beds to wake them up in the morning. Another materialized in midair as Helen was painting the ceiling of her living room and apparently approved of her color choice. Her son once came face to face with a long
deceased Navy lieutenant outside the basement door. The Acquis didn't keep their spectral guests a secret. Helen was quoted in newspaper stories and the Reader's Digest about the family ghosts, and the home in Nyack was included on the town's Haunted House Tour. Everyone knew that the Acqui place was possessed,
everyone apparently except Jeffrey Stambowski. In nine Stambofsky, a transplant from New York's City, bought the Acquis Victorian mansion for six d and fifty thousand dollars without any knowledge that the place was famously riddled with ghosts. When his new neighbors clued him in, Stambofsky took the acquees to court
to cancel the contract and get his money back. In the first trial, the judge denied Stambofsky's claim, citing caveat emper let the buyer beware, but an appeals court in New York reversed the decision, ordering Akli to return Stambofsky's money in a colorful ruling that included ghostly quotes from
Hamlet and reference to the movie Ghostbusters. The court wrote, in part, whether the source of the spectral apparitions seen by defendant seller are parapsychic or psychogenic, having reported their presence in both a national publication Reader's Digest and the local press in nine and n two, respectively, the defendant is a stopped that is prevented from going back on her word to deny their existence, and as a matter
of law, the house is haunted. According to recent surveys, eighteen percent of Americans say that they've seen or been in the presence of a ghost, and about a third of Americans believe that haunted houses are real. Since Jeffreys Tambofsky bowed out, Helen Accley's house has attracted several celebrity owners, although there haven't been any reported ghostly sightings in many years. It was last sold in March for one million, seven
hundred and ninety five thousand dollars. When a house goes on the market, nearly all states require the seller to fill out a disclosure form reporting any known structural problems, environmental toxins, or other material facts that could affect the value of the home. But does that go for ghouls too. There are currently no states that require home sellers to voluntarily disclose alleged ghostly activities on the property before a sale.
In fact, only Minnesota even mentions haunteds and its disclosure law, which freeze sellers from having to disclose any non material facts, including if the home was the site of perceived paranormal activity. But that doesn't mean that haunted house sellers are home free. The actuly verdict, while not officially state law, set an
important precedent. The court ruled that by not disclosing the high profile haunting to the buyer it quote impaired both the value of the property and its potential for resale. For the article of this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Cindy Hagley, a California real estate broker with the Hagley Group and president of Past Life Homes, a consulting business that helps haunted homeowners sell their bedevilled properties. In general, Hagley airs on the side of caution when
it comes to seller disclosures. She said, if it affects the material value of the home, it must be disclosed. That said, Hagley will only disclose a haunting if it's open and notorious, meaning that there have been multiple sightings and all the neighbors know about it. In real estate, lingo, homes that are rumored to be haunted or where the site of a high profile murder or meth lab are
known as stigmatized, as seen in the actly case. The negative notoriety of a stigmatized home could affect the value of the property, But if the haunting isn't notorious and only the owners think they've seen or heard something spooky, Hagley might not say anything. She explained. Sometimes a person will call me and say, hey, my house is haunted and I need to sell. Will you help me. I'm kind of sensitive to these things myself, so if I walk into a home and there's nothing there, I won't
disclose it. Even if your state doesn't force you to disclose the mysterious scraping noises behind the walls or the intermittent moaning in the basement. Sellers and their agents are required to answer honestly when directly asked to question about the property, So if asked specifically whether a house is haunted, the seller or the agent has to answer truthfully to the best of their knowledge about any encounters with spectral entities and people do ask. Of course, ghosts aren't the
only thing that can scare off potential buyers. A lot of people are understandably creeped out at the thought of moving into a home where someone recently died or that was the site of a tragic or violent death, even one that occurred decades ago. So do sellers need to disclose if their property is psychologically affected? Again, the law is generally on the seller's side. Only Alaska, California, and South Dakota's disclosure laws explicitly say that sellers need to
voluntarily disclose a recent death. In Alaska, the disclosure only covers deaths that occurred in the past year, while California goes back three years. In South Dakota, there's a slightly gruesome question way down at the bottom of the state's disclosure form that needs since you have owned the property, are you aware of a human death by homicide or
suicide occurring on the property. In all states, though, if a buyer asks about a death in the home, the seller again has a duty to respond truthfully to the best of their knowledge. Haguley said, if the buyer asks what happened, I believe you should tell them everything you know, because if the real estate agent doesn't, the neighbors certainly will.
When Hagueley's team is tasked with selling a home that was the site of a high profile murder, they'll completely redecorate the room of the crime scene and shift the focus to other rooms. But she said when buyers walk into the home, they're not going to recognize the place from the photos that they saw on the five o'clock News. Today's episode is based on the article do you have to tell buyers your house is haunted? On how stuff
works dot com written by Dave Rouse. Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Playing. Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio visit the i Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H