MovieChat Forums > The Dead Files (2011) Discussion > I have to wonder...

I have to wonder...

posted 8 years ago by cstep166
11 replies | jump to latest

I really wonder WHY any homeowner would want to go on this, or any other show, to proclaim that the house they own is haunted? If they ever go to sell, their property value will go down significantly if it becomes stigmatized as "The Scary Haunted House". If you truly believed you were being haunted, wouldn't it be better to handle it quietly and not so publicly?

I know that disclosure laws for Real Estate vary State to State, but it is my understanding that in many cases if a property becomes notoriously and publically known for something that could negatively impact the privacy and/or quality of life for the new owners that they may have to disclose that. Plus the show is a sort of public record that you, as the homeowner, believe the home to be haunted and a quick google search would bring that up.

I really do not see any benefit to the homeowners to want to go on this show. Do you?

[–] dbzgal04 8 years ago

Perhaps to prove that they aren't crazy and what they're experiencing is real, or even to let others who may be having similar experiences know they aren't alone? But even so, I'd think that they would still be worried about being ridiculed anyway. You do raise an excellent point though about property value. I also don't know how someone could live with him/herself if their haunted house had negative spirits and they sold it, therefore putting someone else through the same chaos.

[–] popedon1 8 years ago

I'm 99.9% sure they get paid to be on the show. And, for some of these places, like the lizzie borden house, I'm sure they do it for the publicity. But, ya, it's really kind of "intimate"; especially when molestation, etc., comes up. I have to think some of these people are on the level, or I'll lose my faith in crazy people.

[–] adiprudential 8 years ago

No, you do not get paid for this type of show, only when you have to travel to them and take time off from work.

[–] kurt-2000 8 years ago

You have a great point cstep.

I thought that I read somewhere that in one or two New England states, sellers need to report their homes are haunted as a required disclosure to buyers?

I also think that most home buyers don't watch paranormal shows, so hauntings would remain undetected in most sales.

[–] cstep166 8 years ago

Disclosure laws are complicated and vary from state to state. I think there was a case in New England about 20 years ago where the owner did not tell the buyer that she believed the house to be haunted, but had been featured in news articles and some TV shows stating it. When the buyer found out, they wanted to withdraw their down payment and offer claiming that it should have been disclosed before hand since it was public knowledge and notoriously known and therefore stigmatized the property. If I remember correctly they sued but the judge ruled that the buyer could only receive 50% of the down payment back because of the "buyer beware" law in the state. Also a friend of mine in another state is a lawyer and they told me that "having a ghost" and "being haunted" are two different things in real estate law there! Evidently there "Having a Ghost" means that someone died of natural causes or illness and does not have to be disclosed. "Haunted" means actual activity. Go figure! LOL

You really do not have to be a watcher of this sort of show. Many homebuyers in this day and age often do internet searches for both the property address and the name of the sellers. There are even web services that will do fact checks like that for you, so if someone was on the show it is likely that their name would come up in that sort of search. I would be leery of buying a home where the current owners said that they believed there were demons or poltergeists, and I am sure many other would be as well.

[–] popedon1 8 years ago

Yeah, it'd be a quandary for me if I were in that position. Obviously, you'd want to sell it right away, but that first bid can take months. And if their nice people -- or even if they're not -- I wouldn't feel right about not telling them the reason I'm selling. Now, many/most would just think me nuts, so then, okay. "Good luck. You'll need it." But, if you're really broke and desperate to leave but need money from the sale to do it, it'd be a gamble to tell that first bidder, or any bidder.

It's like one of those "What Would YOU Do?!" shows that set up a moral quandary (quagmire?): the biker gang beating up the elderly church ladies, do you let the church ladies use you as a human shield?!

I hate those shows.

[–] heidimsw 8 years ago

Lol. I, too, hate the "What Would You Do?" show. The only one I know of is the one hosted by Quiñones. I'm sure there are several on the air. I have watched maybe one-half of one episode of that show. I felt literally uncomfortable watching that show, kind of on behalf of the people they were filming. I think I squirmed a bit, too, because I actually wondered what *I* WOULD DO in those certain situations.

[–] popedon1 8 years ago

I just hit the "info" button, read what is says -- so I know to avoid it -- but for a few seconds, I go through the pain of imagining myself in those "sheet" situations:

Customer belittling "special" clerk/server, WHAT DO YOOOUUU DO?! (Ignore it unless the "special" employee starts crying; then hand her/him a tissue. Well, THAT'S help, too. He/she wasn't really doing a great job...)

Married couple at each other's throats, DO YOOOUUUU INTERVENE?! (Nope. Been there, done that. Guess what always happens unless the wife/girlfriend is unconscious? For the same reason "domestic disputes" are the most dangerous scenarios for cops: if you're fighting him and winning, she'll jump in and help HIM!

I WILL say something if I see someone spiking another's drink. Hasn't happened yet, but i'm 99.9% sure I would. ("Excuse me, but if the powder your date just put in your drink is a roofie, they don't mix well with booze. If it was methamphetamine, think he'll sell me some?" That way I don't seem hostile. He may have a gun.)

"Dere's an 800lb gorilla in da room. What would YOOZ do?" -- SD

[–] heidimsw 8 years ago

Yes. Here in Connecticut, a seller has to disclose "unusual activity" in a house. It doesn't actually say the word "haunted", at least not on anything that I have seen, and I have bought and sold two homes here. A house here in my town was on the market for many, many years with no buyers. It was completely empty of human occupants for years. The rumor around town was that the place was very haunted. Finally, it sold recently. I'd love to hear what the new homeowners have to say about any encounters they've had.

[–] elwyn5150 8 years ago

In a case in my state in Australia, a Taiwanese couple put a deposit a house where a son had murdered his parents and sister and the real estate agency had not disclosed this. When the couple found out, they asked for their deposit back and were initially refused. Subsequently, the real estate agency was fined $20K for "misleading behaviour in promoting the property for sale".

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Estate-agents-fined-over-triple-murder-house/2004/12/19/1103391639414.html

Considering the paranormal is a field that is still questioned and not scientifically established, how can they prove that a house is haunted? Things such as murders taking place in a home are provable.

If it doesn't need for there to be scientific proof that a house is haunted, does that mean if the seller accidentally says or jokes that their house is haunted, it can be held against them?

[–] cstep166 8 years ago

I think it has more to do with the stigma of the IDEA that it is haunted by the community rather than a material fact. If the current owner keeps saying that it is haunted and/or possessed then it will gain that reputation in the community. Therefore anyone moving in from elsewhere may find their lives negatively impacted by the stigma of living in THAT house. In the case back East here in the US the owner told local news programs and newspapers multiple times and over several years that her house was haunted. When the buyer, who was from elsewhere, found this out by talking to some people in the neighborhood they wanted their deposit back claiming that it should have been disclosed to them that the property had a negative and notorious reputation in the community that was not disclosed to them.