This content was created by Sander Scott. This content was uploaded by Sander Scott. This is a YouTube video titled "Can You Sue Someone For Selling You a Haunted House? - Traverse City Area Real Estate Agent Answers" (published 2023-04-09). It is a single-speaker, Q&A-style explainer by a Traverse City area real estate agent addressing whether a buyer can sue a seller for a "haunted" house in Michigan. The speaker explains seller disclosure law and the definition of a material defect, emphasizes that the seller must have actual knowledge and that paranormal activity would need to be provable, advises buyers to perform inspections and due diligence (and references a Zillow resource), and concludes that while you can sue, winning depends on the facts and proof.
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Hey there, can you sue someone for selling you a haunted house? You know, believe it or not, I get asked this question much more often than you'd think. And you know, the answer is you can sue anybody for anything, no matter how kind of ridiculous it is. But as it relates to a haunted house, it really comes down to seller's disclosures. And in the state of Michigan, every seller, whether it's a for sale by owner or not, They're required to disclose any material defects in the property that are known, okay, material defects that are known by the seller, okay. And the material defect is a condition that would have a significant impact on the value of the property or make the property unsafe or uninhabitable. So if a seller has knowledge that a house is haunted and they did not disclose that information to the buyer, the buyer may be able to win. By the way, you can always sue. May be able to win that lawsuit by not disclosing that information. However, it's worth noting that for somebody to be successful in a lawsuit, they would, in this case, they would have to be able to prove that the seller had actual knowledge of this haunted house and failed to disclose it to the buyer. So again, the seller must know about this defect. And believe it or not, you can live in a home with defects and not know about it. I mean, it's frankly every inspection that I get done, that's the case. So, um, it's also important to keep in mind that for a lawsuit to work in this case of a haunted house, you know, ghostly activity would need to be able to be provable and not just a belief or anecdotal stories. So Whereas if it's a material defect like a leaky roof, well, that, that can easily be determined. But actually determining the actual existence of ghosts or paranormal activity may be more, much more difficult. So anyway, as always, it's important for buyers to do their own due diligence before buying a property. Whether it's they're concerned about, about, you know, paranormal activity or anything, due diligence inspections are really important. And actually, Zillow has a really great resource when it comes to— and I'll put that link in the comments— Zillow, it really has some great information as it relates to haunted houses. And, uh, and I'll stick that link in the comments there. So can you sue someone for selling you a haunted house? The answer is yes. Uh, now whether you win that lawsuit or not is another matter, and that really applies to anything, uh, as it relates to our litigious society in the United States. So, all right, there you go. Thanks so much.
