Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

Re: Death in a home

I do not know why the cause of death (suicide) is relevant to the sale, unless some condition of the house or the neighborhood was somehow involved, requiring disclosure.

Re: Death in a home

Your question has no clear cut answer. The seller is under a duty to disclose defects in the property that seller knows would be important to the buyer and which would ordinarily not come to the buyer's attention. The buyer usually means a reasonable buyer, but there is some inclination for courts to take into consideration the special circumstances of the particular buyer if the seller knew of those circumstances.

One would think that a death in a house would not affect the property itself and would not therefore be something requiring disclosure. However if there were circumstances such as a personal relationship between the deceased owner and the buyers or a particular religious belief known to seller that would affect the property, a judge or jury might imply a duty of disclosure.

I hope that helps.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm