Buying and selling a home in California requires complete transparency.
As Halloween approaches, there’s a spooky question haunting the real estate market: Are California sellers and agents required to disclose if a property is haunted when selling a house?
Here’s what our journalists with How To California — a community-driven series to help readers navigate life in the Golden State — found.
What does California law say about disclosing if a house is haunted?
California law has no direct mention of paranormal activity when it comes to selling a house, Zillow said in a news release in October 2023.
However, the law requires California residents to disclose any death that’s occurred in the home within the past three years.
Do sellers have to tell homebuyers about a death on the property?
According to California Civil Code 1710.2, sellers are required to disclose any death that occurred on the property within three years of the sale date.
“This section shall not be construed to immunize an owner or his or her agent from making an intentional misrepresentation in response to a direct inquiry from a transferee or a prospective transferee of real property, concerning deaths on the real property,” the law says.
Therefore, if a buyer directly asks, the seller must provide honest information about any deaths, hauntings or paranormal activity on the property , according to Schorr Law.
It’s best practice for a seller to disclose anything they know about the home, retired real estate agent Jeff Jurach wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee in July 2023.
“I always advised my sellers to disclose ANY death on the property they’re aware of,” Jurach said. “While the law requires disclosure, it does not protect one from failure to disclose.”
In some cases, Jurach said, the value of a property can depreciate due to a death in the home.
Are there any exceptions to the law?
There is one exception to the California Realtor law.
According to the California Association of Realtors, if a person died due to HIV or AIDS then the information doesn’t need to be disclosed to the buyer.
The disclosure law — which was passed in 1986 — protects the seller from disclosing details of the death when a buyer brings the topic into question.
The law was meant to protect against stigmatization and discrimination, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1990.
If a buyer asks a seller or listing agent about the history of the home, the listing agent is required to answer honestly about any deaths that have happened on the property, according to the California Association of Realtor’s.
It does not matter how long ago the death occurred.
What are disclosure requirements for home sellers in California?
As a seller, you must be prepared to answer the following questions related to the death on the property, according to the California Association of Realtors:
- Did the death occur on the property?
- Was the deceased an occupant of the property?
- Did the death occur in the past three years?
Although some sellers may be hesitant to disclose a death because they don’t technically meet the criteria listed above, it’s best practice to always say what you do know.
Especially in cases where “the death was particularly notorious stigmatized the property such that it may have affected the property’s value or desirability,” according to the California Association of Realtors — murder, for example.
“A good standard is that if the seller is afraid that a buyer will cancel because of a disclosure, they should worry more about being sued for failure to disclose,” Jurach said.
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