Log In


Reset Password

Pa. court: murder-suicide can be hidden from buyer

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's highest court says a murder-suicide isn't among the "material defects" that a home seller has to disclose to the buyer.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday in the case of a suburban Philadelphia property that was sold in 2007 for $610,000 to someone who didn't know it was the scene of a murder and suicide by Konstantinos Koumboulis a year earlier.

The majority says there would be wide implications to determining that "psychological stigma" can be the basis of a claim for fraud or negligent misrepresentation.

The justices say the occurrence of a tragedy inside a home doesn't affect the quality of the real estate. They write that if anyone's going to make such disclosure mandatory it will have to be the Legislature, after carefully considering the issue.