If you watch a lot of scary movies, it may seem like everyone who buys a new house is in danger of moving into someplace haunted—and who knows, they just might be! After all, a 2019 analysis by realty website Zillow found that only four states had laws on the books regarding the disclosure of reported paranormal activity on the premises. Only a few more than that—nine states in all—had laws surrounding the disclosure of a death in the house.

This is partly to protect sellers from the risks of disclosing property facts that could cause “stigma” or “psychological impact.” In this case, that describes any detail about the home’s past that is not considered germane to the quality or safety of the structure itself, yet might nevertheless predispose potential buyers against it. Those pesky poltergeists, for example, or the fact that the home was the site of a suicide or a gruesome slaying.

Some realtors nonetheless take it upon themselves to inform a potential buyer, even if state law doesn’t require it of them. The code of ethics of the National Association of Realtors doesn’t address the issue directly, but it does suggest that realtors are obliged to look out for the best interests of their clients. “We interpret that as if we know, you should know,” Mark Ryan, a real estate broker with Remax, told news site Dayton 24/7 Now in 2019.

For the most part, however, these laws (or lack thereof) protect sellers, not buyers. If a buyer really wants to know the history of their potential new dream home, they often have to take it upon themselves, doing some internet sleuthing into their future address or simply asking the neighbors. There’s even a whole website dedicated to just that. For a fee, DiedInHouse.com claims to do a background check and report any deaths, suicides, and even hauntings in a house’s history to concerned buyers.

Of course, some homeowners might be happier not knowing what happened in the place before they bought it. Even for those who don’t consider themselves superstitious, it may be hard to look at your new kitchen the same way if you know that it was the scene of a grisly murder, granite countertops be damned.

Here are a few real-life stories of buyers and renters learning that they are living in the same space where someone else lost their life.

Someone Died in Here: Realtor Stories of Death Disclosures

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