Stigmatized Property - Types of Stigma

Types of Stigma

Many jurisdictions recognize several forms of stigmatized property, and have passed resolutions or statutes to deal with them. One issue that separates them is disclosure. Depending on the jurisdiction of the house, the seller may not be required to disclose the full facts. Some specific types must always be disclosed, others are up to the jurisdiction, and still others up to the realtor.

The types include:

• Public stigma : when the stigma is known to a wide selection of the population and any reasonable person can be expected to know of it. Examples include the Amityville Horror house and the home of the Menendez brothers. Public stigma must always be disclosed, in almost all American and European jurisdictions.

• Criminal stigma: the property was used in the ongoing commission of a crime. For example, a house is stigmatized if it has been used as a chop shop, drug den or brothel. In the case of drug dens, some drug addicts may inadvertently come to the address expecting to purchase illegal drugs. Most jurisdictions require full disclosure of this sort of element.

• Murder/suicide stigma: Some jurisdictions in the United States require property sellers to reveal if murder or suicide occurred on the premises. California state law does if the event occurred within the previous three years. To protect sellers from lawsuits, Florida state law does not require any notification (see FL statute 689.25: "Failure to disclose homicide, suicide, deaths, or diagnosis of HIV or AIDS infection in an occupant of real property").

• Debt stigma: Debt collectors not aware that a debtor has moved out of a particular residence may continue their pursuit at the same location, resulting in harassment to innocent subsequent occupiers. This is particularly pronounced if the collection agency uses aggressive tactics.

• Phenomena stigma: Many (but not all) jurisdictions require disclosure if a house is renowned for "haunting", ghost sightings, etc. This is in a separate category from public stigma where the knowledge of "haunting" is restricted to a local market.

• Minimal stigma is known to, or taken seriously by, only a small select group, and such a stigma is unlikely to affect the ability to sell the property; in such a case, realtors may decide to disclose this information in a case-by-case basis.