Devil's in the detail of 'haunted' house sale
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 2:19AM BST 30/03/2008
After enduring howls in the night and creaking staircases for the past three years, an Italian family is preparing to sue the previous owners of their house for not telling them it was haunted.

Gaetano Bastianelli, 57, and his wife Stefania paid €120,000 (£94,000) for the modern home in the Umbrian town of Spoleto in 2005 - encouraged by the fact that all the furniture and fittings were left by the owners, right down to the coffee cups. "We considered it the deal of the century," said Mr Bastianelli.

The couple claim they were unaware that the house in Santo Chiodo road had been built close to the disused Pozzi Ginori cemetery, or that strange goings-on at the address during the 1970s had necessitated an exorcism - and prompted a visit from Perugia University's paranormal research team.

"The ghosts started their haunting on the first night," said Mr Bastianelli, a former long-distance lorry driver. "I woke suddenly at around one or two in the morning. There was water seeping from under the bathroom door.

"The hot water tap was pouring out boiling water and the room was full of steam. My wife was stunned, because she had turned off everything before going to bed."

He claimed that by next morning, malevolent spirits had left "luminous green mould all over the walls".

After that things got worse. He said the sound of chains rattling had alarmed his 10-year-old daughter, and claimed that the lawnmower and his wife's car had spontaneously combusted.

Now Mr Bastianelli has engaged a lawyer, Antonio Francesconi, to sue the previous owners for failing to inform him that the house was haunted.

"We have a good case," said Mr Francesconi. "Under article 1490 of Italian law, you have to tell buyers if there is anything wrong. I think that the previous owners will settle out of court."

A local historian, Sergio Grifoni, confirmed that an exorcism had been performed on a girl in the house in 1977.

"The local papers at the time said a girl had been possessed by the devil and had been taken to the bishop. Nothing helped, until Pope John Paul II prayed for her."

The episode was confirmed by Fr Gabriel Amorth, the Vatican's senior exorcist, who said: "Pope Wojtyla carried out an exorcism on this girl who was rolling around on the floor of her house."

He could not confirm whether the house was the same one in Santo Chiodo road.
-from the telegraph uk

Don't know what to make of this, but that's an interesting story.....

Always interesting reading about haunting lawsuits.

*Edit: Also, does anyone else have any other haunting lawsuits they can post?

do you have a link to the source of this story...

Actually in some states it is a law to notify potential buyers of a house potentially being haunted, and being that this is across the pond I am not sure how the laws are there.

I think in some states of the U.S. the real estate dealers have to disclose if a house has a history of
paranormal activity or death in the house. I'm not to sure though.
You know there are people who want to buy haunted houses?
Check it out: http://www.sdparanormal.com/Buy_Sell_Haunted_House.html

Surely if you've got enough evidence to prove the property is haunted, it'll be concrete proof that'll stand up in a court of law, I'd love to see what they actually produce for this. I mean, if it's that good we'd be seeing it on the 6 O'Clock news.

This is a link to the story,

Devil's in the detail of 'haunted' house sale
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...0/whaunt130.xml

Thanks D..I know in my state there is a law that someone must disclose if a home is haunted, or the can be sued at a later time..JN

You're welcome JN.

I'm not sure about the laws in my state. I just know that when we were out searching for houses to buy that the real estate agents didn't mention anything about the previous owners health or death until we asked... We made sure we asked too... And there was only one house that we we were disturbed by, the outside was perfect with lush country land and great big garage... but inside the house it was gray and sad feeling, it had a heavy gloomy atmosphere. We asked the real estate about the previous owners. She told us that the last two couples who had owned the house at different times, the women both had acquired a rare form of cancer and passed on shortly after they moved out. Okay, that did it for us, we quickly walked away... we aren't scientists, but we do know that it's possible there was an environmental factor involved. Two rare cancers in two different women who didn't even know each other... That's a bit too threatening for me. But you know, I don't believe the real estate agent would have told us, if we hadn't asked.

I wonder how the lawsuit for this haunted house turned out or will turn out. It'll be interesting to hear. I hope the courts decision is allowed to be aired in the media.

WOW You made some wise decisions my friend, good girl..I hope we hear how this turns out, it may send out a message to home owners and Agents everywhere...JN

Gosh, you're quick on your replies.
I agree, even if it's nothing more than giving a history of the land and/or home.

The people in the lawsuit really should have been informed of the history of their house as it involved so much chaos over such a long length of time. I'm guessing they probably wouldn't have bought it unless it was too sweet of a deal to turn down.

I would want to know and I think most people would too. A home is too big of a major investment both financially and emotionally not to have be allowed to have all the known history disclosed to you.

Maybe we'll hear how it all turns out.

But how many owners of older houses are going to be aware of every death that may have taken place there?

My six-unit apartment building is 126 years old. Surely deaths have taken place on the premises and most likely home funerals, too. (And the latter are coming back into fashion.)

This is GA and it continues on at: http://www.grec.state.ga.us/articles/stigmatized.html


Stigmatized Properties

The Commission frequently receives telephone calls asking how licensees should handle the sale or lease of property on which a heinous crime occurred or perhaps is said to be haunted. Textbooks generally describe such properties as "psychologically impacted." That term generally describes emotional factors rather than economic factors which may influence the decision of a prospective purchaser or tenant.

Properties that were the scene of a murder, a rape, or a suicide or that were occupied by a person with a communicable disease or by a person who has had AIDS – all are generally described as psychologically impacted. Should licensees disclose such matters? The answer is sometimes "yes" and sometimes "no."

The law requires licensees to disclose material information about a property to prospective purchasers or tenants. Generally, the courts have held that whatever is material to the buyer or tenant is, in fact, material. That means that licensees must disclose anything that affects whether the buyer would want to purchase the property or affects what the buyer is willing to pay for the property'.

When a defect is physical (for example, a leaking roof or unsound foundation), the issue is clear. Licensees must disclose. When the defect is emotion (for example, murder or ghosts), the answer varies.

Around the turn of the 20th Century the British poet and dramatist Stephen Phillips rented a house which he discovered to be terribly haunted, moved out, and then told family, friends and acquaintances about his experience.

The property owner subsequently sued Phillips for libeling the building's reputation.

Phillips lost the suit.

Here's a long but really interesting article that covers a broad part of the stigmatized property market in many states and situations.

On the second page of the article it mentions this brief statement:


Read the Full article:
Some Buyers Regret Not Asking: Anyone Die Here?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/realestate/30cov.html

Interesting read, thanks D..JN-

There's a lot of people out there "Not doing the right thing" in our field. It doesn't surprise me. Its giving our community a bad reputation.