Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

A failure to disclose in a real-estate transaction is a species of fraud, and the statute of limitations is three years, and probably would be measured from the time you knew of, or reasonably should have known of, the facts constituting the fraud or deception. So, you potentially have a viable lawsuit from this standpoint. You might have a more difficult time establishing that the failure to disclose was material. since people pass away from natural causes without that fact affecting the liveability or desirability of their homes, at least for most buyers. There is a case (Reed v. King, 1983, 145 Cal.App.3d 261) where failure to disclose that multiple murders had occurred in a house was held to be material. I am rather doubtful that a natural death 19 months previous to your purchase would be considered a material matter or, if it were, that you'd be awarded much in the way of damages.

I respectfully disagree in part with Mr. Whipple.

There are two different statutes that govern the matter. The first is Civil Code section 1710.2. That section states that if someone dies on the property, it's a material defect � but only if the death occurred within three years of the date you make an offer to purchase or rent the home.

The section statute is the statute of limitations, which may be fraud if known by the seller. The statute of limitations for fraud is three years, set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 338. The statute begins running when you or a reasonable person would have discovered the fraud.

The issue that I see right now is ascertaining when a reasonable person would have found out about the death.