If only she could have taken her otherworldly friends with her, Helen could have avoided the following legal troubles. Surveys have shown that people are actually discouraged from buying a home when it is reported as haunted, even though the ghosts aren`t real and (in most cases) turn out to be perfectly rational. One of these surveys found that about a third of people are willing to buy a “haunted house,” although about 85% expect a significant discount on the asking price. An analysis of the UK market found that people who allegedly sold haunted homes had to cut prices by around 17% to make a sale. So, do sellers have to disclose if their homes are full of paranormal entities that can`t exist according to any scientific theory? Well, in some cases, yes, as one seller discovered when they were sued for failing to disclose alleged paranormal activity at their New York property. Her mother had sworn to her that she had mentioned that ghosts would like to have children in the house again in front of a pregnant Patrice Stambovsky. Helen also claimed that the Stambovskys were trying to get a big discount on the house, which she flatly refused. Today, New York is one of only four states to include supernatural activity in their real estate disclosure laws. The others are New Jersey, Massachusetts and Minnesota, each with different requirements. Several other states require sellers to notify buyers if there has been a death on the property. These laws vary widely, but there are a few rules of thumb.
This house is one of the most haunted places in New York. Were you aware of this horrible trial? When Kavanagh`s eldest daughter was baptized, Helen Ackley had to attach a gold ring to the baby`s finger because it was too big for her. When the family returned home after the ceremony, they found a small ring on the dresser. It fits perfectly to the baby`s finger. Her daughter, now an adult, still wears this ring around her neck. Interestingly, a survey found that only about a third of people are actually willing to buy a “haunted house,” and real estate agents are largely aware that if there`s some sort of rumor about a haunting, your asking price needs to drop. Built in 1890, Nyack`s house sat empty for seven years before the Ackleys bought it. Meanwhile, neighborhood children said they saw faces in the windows. This opinion, colloquially referred to as the “Ghostbusters decision,” established the Ackley Residence as the only known legal haunted house in America. “The application of the strict rule of caveat emptor [the buyer is responsible for checking the quality of the goods before purchase] to a contract concerning a house owned by poltergeists evokes visions of a clairvoyant or medium who regularly accompanies the structural engineer and the terminix agent during an inspection of any house subject to a contract of sale. This means that the prudent lawyer will create an escrow account so that the object of the transaction does not return to sue him and his client – or pray for his professional liability insurance coverage to extend to supernatural disasters.
Do you have $1.9 million available for a new home? Do you agree with a five-bedroom Victorian house that comes with a bit, shall we say, of history? What if I told you it was a bit haunted? It turns out I`m legally obligated to do so – and the infamous house that made this commitment clear is for sale. Categories: HISTORY Keywords: · Ackley Haunted House, Legal Haunted House New York, NYACK Haunted House, Top Some states require hauntings to be reported, as well as “stigmatized” homes if that stigma could hurt future resale value. This includes homes where murders, deaths, or generally other criminal activity have occurred that are widely known in the immediate vicinity (or beyond). Madam. Ackley`s real estate agent, Ellis Realty, revealed the haunting to Jeffrey Stambovsky before signing a contract to buy the house in 1989 or 1990, because after Stambovsky signed the contract and paid a down payment of $32,500 on the agreed price of $650,000, Ackley would not sign the end of his contract until the haunting was revealed to buyers. The real estate agent called Jeff Stambovsky and informed him of Ackley`s claim, and he laughed and said, “We have to call the Ghostbusters,” a popular movie at the time. The broker then informed Helen Ackley that Stambovsky was notified, that she had signed the end of the purchase agreement and that the house was about to close. Both the broker and the seller told the court about this sequence of events, Stambovsky said he was never informed. Originally from New York City, Stambovsky was unfamiliar with Nyack folklore, including the well-known haunted story.[4] The house, known to many locals as the “Ghost House,” was once owned by a woman named Helen Ackley, who lived there from the 1960s to the 1980s.