How would you feel if you learned there had been a suicide or violent death in your new dream home? What can you do to avoid this situation?
Judges hear cases filled with extraordinary life stories. Here’s one such real-life case.
In 2015, a couple bought a house in Jonquière (Saguenay), only to find out that a suicide had occurred on the premises three years earlier. The seller had filled out a form called Declarations by the seller of the immovable. In it, he stated that there had been no violent death or suicide on the premises.
The couple sued the seller, claiming that they would’ve never purchased the house had they known about the tragedy. We’ll explain what the court decided later in this article.
Read the Declarations by the seller carefully
You have the right to get a copy of the Declarations by the seller of the immovable when you purchase a home with a real estate broker. This form is an integral part of the seller’s brokerage contract and must be attached to your promise to purchase. Your mortgage lender will also receive a copy of it.
The Declarations by the seller is a form that must be completed by the seller. It includes a question on whether a suicide or violent death occurred on the premises. You could sue for compensation if the seller left this question unanswered or if they lied in their answer.
What if there’s no Declarations by the seller?
The form isn’t required if the sale occurs without a real estate broker.
In this case, the seller must declare a suicide or violent death only if you ask them about it directly. If you express concerns or ask questions, the seller must answer. They cannot evade the topic, nor make statements that are false, misleading or incomplete.
You can sue the seller if you believe that their statements were false, or if they withheld information they knew.
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However, the lawsuit will fail if the seller didn’t know about the death Back to the 2015 Saguenay story: In this case the seller was never notified of the suicide. He learned about it through the couple when they contacted him. The court concluded that the seller acted in good faith and dismissed the lawsuit. |
Other cases of homes with tragic stories
In the past, Quebec courts have ordered sellers to compensate buyers for hiding the truth about deaths on the premises.
Here’s an example of one case with such an outcome. In 2018, a woman bought a house in Joliette.
After moving in, her neighbour told her that someone had committed suicide there a few years earlier.
At trial, the seller told the court that he hadn’t been aware of the suicide. However, his statement was disproved by the neighbour, who testified that they had discussed the suicide together.
In the end, the seller was ordered to pay $10,000 to the woman as compensation for the stress and anxiety she experienced, and for the impact on the house’s resale value.
In another case, the disciplinary committee of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ or Quebec broker’s association) disciplined a broker/owner for lying about the death of her son in the house. During one of the visits, the seller told the buyer that her son had died in a car accident when in fact he had committed suicide in the house’s garage.
After moving in, the buyer felt uneasy in the house. Her son’s school friends told her that the house was haunted, and no babysitter wanted to go there at night for fear of the ghost.
The buyer eventually discovered the truth and filed a complaint with the OACIQ. The seller had to pay a fine of $2,600.