FALMOUTH, Ky. — When the Holden family got the keys to a house in Falmouth, they found out the listing didn’t include a major detail: a mother allegedly left her newborn to die under a blanket on a mattress after giving birth upstairs.
“This is a shock to us,” Serenity Holden told reporters on her driveway. “We just moved in yesterday.”
The mother of the newborn is now facing charges.
RELATED | 3 facing charges including incest, abuse, concealing birth in NKY infant's death
The new buyers likely didn’t know about it because violent crimes that occurred inside the homes aren’t required to be voluntarily disclosed under state law.
The home has what’s called a stigma, which the National Association of REALTORS defines as a property that has been impacted by an event psychologically, but not physically.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Agent Eric Keaney said it’s “something that would affect the quality of life.”
A non-exhaustive list is murder, paranormal activity, tourists outside if the property was featured on a TV show, potential upcoming zoning changes or sex offenders in the area.
Only a few states require stigma disclosures under state law. Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana aren’t one of them.
“You’re going to do all the homework you possibly can to make sure, one, the property disclosure is filled out correctly, and two, is there any stigmas or potential stigmas?” Keaney said.
Keaney said neighbors can be useful sources of information for understanding potential stigmas: “They could be able to tell you, ‘Hey, you might want to stay away from this house.’”
A stigma disclosure is separate from a typical property disclosure, which is known issues the seller experienced while they were living there, Keaney said. Those are your more typical issues: mold in the basement, leaks and cracks in the foundation.
Tracy Dunne, president of REALTOR Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, recommends buyers ask specifically and directly if there is something that is important to them.
“It would be expected that the answer to that would be a truthful answer about whatever the seller is aware of,” she said. “If you don’t disclose that it’s haunted, it could come back to haunt you.”
While not legal advice, Dunne recommends the seller give as much information as possible to the buyer. “Because if that person is going to have a problem with it when you disclose it, they’re probably going to have a problem with it after the closing,” she said.
There are many ways to research potential stigmas with a home. One is diedinhouse.com, which Roy Condrey founded after he said he unknowingly purchased a rental that was haunted.
Ten years later, he’s run more than 1 million paid reports.
“Death at a home, especially a tragic death, does impact the value,” he said. “It does impact the time it takes to sell, so why isn’t that considered something that has to be disclosed?”
It’s something the Holden family, wishes they knew.
“Were shocked, a lot, real bad,” she said.
Her mortgage company told her the only option was to keep the house.
“We’re going to change that narrative,” said Holden. “We’re going to raise our kids here and make it a happy home.”
Watch Live:
