Disclosure: What to Ask and What to Tell

By Lorayne Bryan, Real Estate Business Magazine, February/March 2007

In Southern Maine, a region notable for its beauty, bustling real estate market and rich history, a brutal murder occurred in a home. The murder is notable because it is domestic, the killer is an Iraq war veteran, and the act was heinous in nature. A matter of public record, the media sensationalizes the story, and it becomes a temporary blight on the community before gradually dissolving into the blur of yesterday's news.

When the residence where the murder occurred is placed on the real estate market, nothing of the violence that destroyed a family remains to suggest the gruesome nature of the crime committed there. Upon close inspection, the house doesn't yield any physical evidence suggesting a murder, and nothing on the mandatory disclosure statement identifies the house as a crime scene. The event is apparently not considered a material fact, the seller's agent is not allowed to disclose the information and the buyer's agent simply had no information regarding the murder. So, the couple that ultimately purchases the home has no idea what happened within its walls.