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Does Home Seller Have A Legal Obligation To Disclose That The Neighbor Is Wacky?

By John Mesirow

Yes, this is the subject of a lawsuit in Arizona. Nathan Thinnes sold his house to Glenn Melton, who bought it for his daughter, Kelly Zegers. Thinnes did not disclose that his neighbor was a REAL problem. When Melton discovered this, he asked Thinnes to take the house back, which he refused to do. An added twist, both seller Thinnes and buyer Melton are in the real estate business! So why is the neighbor a problem? As reported in The Arizona Republic:

One day, Melton's wife went to visit Zegers and witnessed the neighbor's behavior firsthand. When she called police to ask if there were any complaints, the officer found so many that he asked if the address was an apartment complex.

Shazam! An apartment complex? Must be a big number.

Melton learned that the neighbor had called 911 hundreds of times, saying that people were breaking in, or that her sister was shooting poison at their elderly mother's legs. Once, she met police at the door while holding a shotgun.

You might wonder "Was this still going on at the time of the sale?"

And just days before closing the house sale, the former owner called the police after he and his dog were pelted with potatoes the neighbor was throwing at unseen intruders in the oleander bushes between the two yards.

[After the shotgun encounter] the neighbor was handcuffed and taken away in a squad car and stayed away until after Zegers moved in.

Oops. How are things going now?

"She screams and yells at people that are passing by," Melton said. "When my daughter's in the backyard, the neighbor's yelling at her and making verbal threats."

The case is pending in the Maricopa County Superior Court. To read more, click here.

Full post as published by Legal Juice on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).