3 July 2014 - Buyers in Hong Kong generally avoid buying "haunted homes" i.e. homes where previous tenants have died violently. Sky Post reported that a netizen recently complained about buying a haunted home in East Kowloon from a dishonest real estate agent and only learned from the bank that the apartment was haunted when applying for a mortgage loan. He suspected that the real estate agent intentionally omitted this fact.

 

The buyer said he did talk to the real estate agent about the status of the apartment and was told that the apartment was not haunted. After confronting the agent, the buyer cancelled the transaction and got back the deposit. A lawyer mentioned that real estate agents are responsible for disclosing all relevant information of the home; the real estate agent’s license could be revoked if the agent intentionally misleads or hides relevant information.

 

According to peers, the real estate agent should know better than the bank does. However, accidental, natural or sudden death that is not publicly reported may not be easy to find out.  

 

 

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