Recently the State of California just added a new disclosure requirement to their almost endless list of required disclosures – It is called the home occupant under house arrest disclosure. Unlike most disclosures that are signed at the time one makes an offer on the property – this disclosure needs to be signed before one CAN EVEN SEE the property. After 29 years in the real estate business, this is the first disclosure I ever needed to be signed prior to even showing the house.

This disclosure recently resulted from a court case that took place in San Mateo County. The Trash family owned a house at 123 Sing Sing Drive that they wanted to sell. Joe Bail Bondsman, a local realtor, listed the house and then Mr. and Mrs. Trash told Joe that their son, Juvi Hall Trash, was under house arrest and could never leave the house even for showings! Joe said Cool – we can work with that.

So one day Joe showed the house to and older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Weakheart, looking to buy a home that their grandson, Honor Student, could live in while he went to Stanford University.  Joe was unaware that Mr. Weakhart had heart trouble and that he had a pacemaker.

Mr. Weakhart is walking through the house and when they entered Juvi’s bedroom decorated with Mettallica and Brtiney Spears’ posters, he suddenly didn’t feel too well and he was having a hard time catching his breath. He collapsed on the floor and had to be rushed to the Stanford Hospital. By the time Mr Weakhart arrived he was feeling better. The doctor asked him what happened. Mr Weakhart said he was looking for a house to his grandson who wanted to be a doctor and they went into the Juvi Hall, the teenager’s room, and started to feel unwell. The doctor didn’t understand why this happened and asked Mr. Weakheart whether Juvi by any chance had a ankle lock transmitter on his ankle. Mr Weakhart said Yes he did. The dector said that explains it – he said the ankle bracelet emits magnetic waves which screw up the clock in the pace maker.

Mr. and Mrs. Weakhart were really pissed at Joe the realtor since Joe did not warn him of this possiblilty. Mr. and Mrs. Weakhart sued for the cost of the ambulance and emergency room stay as well as for emotional duress. The jury ruled against the Realtor (as they always do) and Joe paid lots of money to settle the claim.

CAR developed this new disclosure requirement as a result of this case.

As with my errant golf ball disclosure post, this is just a whimsical fictional story from my silly brain.

Jill Heers of ERA Real Estate in Oceanside, CA has recently posted a true story about how she successfully sold an oceanview property to a cardiologist with an inexpensive digital camera.

Marian Bennett of Coldwell Banker Half Moon Bay has an even funnier TRUE story about showing a house where the occupant wasn’t quite ready for volunteers !

Warning ! This is not a true story but rather just something my whimsical my mind came up with……however, the moral of the story is true…..many disclosure laws are the result of some legal action that arises from the sale or purchase of real property. 

Several years ago, I was showing homes in the Cupertino Foothills near Deep Cliff Golf Course to a couple, Bill and Jane. They had a 5 year old son named Tiger and a dog named Sam Snead. Bill worked down the road at Mango Computer and Jane was an attorney at a venture capital firm on Sand Hill Road. Bill was an avid golfer and said it might be nice to find a home overlooking the golf course. It would be easy to go with his son after work and teach him the game of golf.

After many months of looking, I showed them a house along the 13th hole at Deep Cliff. This house was set fairly close to the fairway and had a pool in the back yard. I mentioned to Bill that this house is pretty close to the golf course and maybe he should be worried that a golf ball might leave the course and smash thru one of the house’s windows or land in the pool. Bill said don’t worry – being an expert golfer and general know-it-all anyway, he pointed out to me that the house was down the left side of the fairway and very few golfers ever hook the ball left – most golfers slice the ball to the right side of the fairway. They made an offer on the house and we went back several times during the escrow period to complete inspections and check things out. Golfers were on the course every day we were there. Bill and Jane closed the purchase and moved in.

One summer day Tiger was in the backyard with Sam, the dog, and a  golf ball came flying over the fence and hit Sam, the dog, in the head…..Sam fell into the pool and Tiger who couldn’t swim jumped in after him…..Sam managed to dog paddle back to the side of the pool but Tiger sunk to the bottom. By this time the nanny, Svetlana, discovered what had happened. She dove into the pool, grabbed Tiger and brought him back to the surface. Tiger was not breathing and Svetlana put him in the car to drive to the nearby hospital. Backing out the driveway, Sevtlana ran over a fire hydrant creating a flood of water that went down the neighbors driveway and flowed right in the front door of the neighbor house. Svetlana got Tiger to the hospital and the doctors were able to revive him. The neighbors, however, were not too happy and they sued Bill and Jane for the damage to their house. Bill and Jane turned around and sued me their agent for not disclosing the potential hazards of buying a home next to the golf course. The court in all its wisdom ruled for Bill and Jane.

And I am now sitting in debtor’s prison writing this blog.

So CAR decided they better come up with the errant golf ball disclosure form so no other agents would suffer the cruel fate I did. 

I have written this post in jest. The point being many disclosure forms result from lawsuits against real estate agents.