Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer and a contributing columnist for the Star.
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Aaron → contribute → Star
He can be reached at bob@aaron.ca
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He → reach → bob@aaron.ca
The scariest thing in a haunted house may be the agreement of purchase and sale.
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thing → haunt → purchase
On Halloween, ghosts are supposed to disappear when the lights come on.
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lights → suppose → Halloween
Real estate problems do not.
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problems → do → ?
A buyer can inspect the roof, test the furnace, check the wiring and order a title search.
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buyer → inspect → search
None of those investigations will reveal whether someone was murdered in the bedroom, an incident of fatal self-harm took place in the basement — or neighbours have spent years whispering about a ghost on the staircase.
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neighbours → reveal → staircase
Those are examples of what the industry calls a “stigmatized” property: a home whose value or desirability may be affected by something psychological or historical rather than by a physical defect.
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value → call → defect
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ARTICLE → continue → ?
Mackenzie House at 82 Bond Street is one of Toronto’s best-known reputedly haunted homes.
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House → know → homes
Now a city museum, the restored 1858 townhouse was the final residence of William Lyon Mackenzie — Toronto’s first mayor, a newspaper publisher and the leader of the 1837 rebellion.
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townhouse → restore → rebellion
Reported phenomena include an apparition resembling Mackenzie on the upper floors, a long-haired female figure on the second and third floors, unexplained footsteps and cold spots.
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phenomena → include → floors
One of the most famous stories: the basement printing press has seemingly started on its own.
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press → start → own
The city owns the house today, so no one is negotiating to buy it.
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one → own → it
But it raises a very modern question: if a property has a reputation for ghosts, murder or other disturbing history, does an Ontario seller have to tell the buyer?
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seller → raise → buyer
The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) defines stigma as a non-physical, intangible attribute that may trigger an emotional or psychological reaction in a prospective buyer — deaths, criminal activity, notorious former occupants, reported hauntings.
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that → define → buyer
Whether any of those matter depends entirely on the individual.
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any → depend → individual
A reported haunting could send one buyer running for the door while another would happily ask whether the ghost might contribute to the mortgage payments.
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ghost → report → payments
Ontario legislation does not expressly address stigma.
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legislation → address → stigma
RECO does not require agents to disclose every dark chapter in a property’s history.
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RECO → require → history
Instead, it places the burden on buyers: those with concerns should raise them before signing an offer and obtain written representations where appropriate.
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those → place → representations
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ARTICLE → continue → ?
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ARTICLE → continue → ?
A buyer who would never purchase a house where a murder or alleged paranormal activity has occurred should say so before the offer is signed — and put the protection into the agreement.
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offer → purchase → agreement
A typical protective clause might require the seller to warrant that the property has not been the scene of a murder and has not been publicly identified as haunted.
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property → require → murder
There is one investigation that costs nothing: talk to the neighbours.
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that → be → neighbours
They often know things that never appear in an MLS listing, building inspection or title search.
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that → know → listing
Years ago, I acted for the buyer of a Toronto condominium where the agreement disclosed that the former owner had been murdered in the unit.
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owner → act → unit
I asked my client whether sleeping in the same bedroom troubled him.
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sleeping → ask → him
“Not in the slightest,” he said.
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he → say → slightest
That exchange captures the real legal problem with stigma.
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exchange → capture → stigma
This Halloween, buyers worried about the paranormal should remember that Ontario law offers far stronger protection against termites, mould and defective wiring than against murder, mayhem and things that go bump in the night.
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that → worry → night
The safest protection against an unwanted ghost remains an old-fashioned one: ask before buying — and get the answer in writing.
Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events.
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articles → remain → facts
He can
be reached at bob@aaron.ca
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He → reach → bob@aaron.ca
The Aporia
