Where There’s Smoke, There’s Buyers
Where to begin with this one? The Teller thinks the stench is a good place to start, since this case stinks.
The stench in question was cigarette smoke permeating an otherwise lovely condo in Boston’s South End, and one so nose-blisteringly obvious that Alyssa Burrage worriedly asked her real estate agent about it while she was looking for a new place in 2006. But at the time, it was not so offensive that Ms. Burrage didn’t eventually close on the place and move in.
After all, her agent had offered her some bland assurances that after she’d dumped the old owner’s fixtures and completed her own renovations, the smell would be sure to fade.
Except the smell wasn’t from the old owner, it was from the downstairs neighbor. And the asthma-ridden Ms. Burrage found that even after badgering the neighbors to accommodate her, she still couldn’t stand it. So she recently moved out.
And now, she’s suing the neighbors, the agent, and the condo association.
The case may set several precedents – for chutzpah, certainly – but also for agents and their responsibility to disclose property information to buyers. The law’s clear that real estate agents can’t shirk their responsibility to disclose info that might affect the buyer’s decision to purchase – but what info might affect the buyer’s decision can vary quite a bit from buyer to buyer.
If real estate agents are forced to investigate and disclose every property condition that might prove a serious health issue for a sliver of buyers, will sellers start getting frantic calls from agents asking if, for example, they have ever chosen Jif? Inquiring buyers with peanut allergies will want to know….
Forgiveness Knows No Bounds
In still more "this might set some kind of important precedent, but probably not" news: The Boston Transportation Dept. will forgive payment of parking tickets issued in the city during last week’s non-blizzard.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the unpredictable nature of the storm and the fact that many families are already struggling prompted him to waive the fines.
The Boston Transportation Department said the city ticketed 3,353 vehicles at $45 a pop and towed another 229 at $90 each after declaring a "snow emergency" that turned out to be little more than a lame dusting.
Truly, a grand gesture on the part of city officials. But we can think of a different kind of unpredictable storm hitting already-struggling families: the metaphorical foreclosure storm.
Which got us to thinking – wouldn’t it be nice if city officials were as magnanimous about foreclosures as they are about parking tickets?
"Ah, I see you bought your home last year and barely had time to live in it before it went into foreclosure. No matter, we’ll waive your property taxes since you never really had a chance."
Yeah, right. There will be three feet of snow in Washington, D.C. and no snow here before that day comes…
