undisclosed cemetery on property

[rinakay]

What is the name of your state? TN
We purchased a home 9 months ago. Previous owner did not disclose to us that our front yard was once a cemetery - small family plot (7 bodies). We would not have bought this house if we had known! He said he doesn't know anything about it but we were told from a neighbor that he was the one that pulled up the headstones 25-30 years ago when he built the house. Is this a matter of He said she said or do we have a case?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state? TN
We purchased a home 9 months ago. Previous owner did not disclose to us that our front yard was once a cemetery - small family plot (7 bodies). We would not have bought this house if we had known! He said he doesn't know anything about it but we were told from a neighbor that he was the one that pulled up the headstones 25-30 years ago when he built the house. Is this a matter of He said she said or do we have a case?

My response:

And why does this matter?

IAAL

 

[Veronica1228]

My response:

And why does this matter?

IAAL

Haven't you ever seen the movie "Poltergeist"?

 

[JETX]

My response:

And why does this matter?

IAAL

Yep. No problem.... at least until your 6 year old daughter starts staring at an off-channel television station.... and says, "There heeeerrrrree'.
Are there any 'chill spots' in the house. Better go out and try to hire that 'little strange woman' (Zelda Rubinstein).

 

[Orcons]

Duty to Disclose Material Facts

You have two issues you need to address.

First, is the fact that a cemetary was there a material fact, i.e., one that would affect the value of the property? If the bodies were removed 25 years ago, probably not. If the bodies are still there that would not only be a material fact (what if you wanted to put a swimming pool in the front yard?) but would open up a whole host of other issues. I imagine the statute of limitations would have run on desecrating a cemetary, which it sounds like the previous owner did, but you should check with an attorney.

Second, does the owner have a duty to disclose? In some states the owner has a duty to disclose all material facts, in others he or she doesn't. You need to check TN law to see if there was a duty to disclose (a local broker should be able to tell you this). If the owner had a duty to disclose then you should have recourse.

 

[PghREA]

How do you know that the neighbor who told you your front yard was once a cemetary is actually telling you the truth?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

. . . And you'll notice how quickly our original writer has come back to respond and answer a simple question or two.

IAAL

 

[tigger22472]

Haven't you ever seen the movie "Poltergeist"?

GMTA... I was reading the thread thinking the same thing!

 

[rinakay]

cemetery

It's not a "once was" cemetery. It still is. We have a hill in our front yard (8 feet from the front porch) with a cedar tree planted in the middle of it. I was told by a local historian to check the ground for soft spots and there are several. We were also told where the headstones are and what the last names are. We too thought that the neighbor may be making it up so we asked several other locals who grew up here and they remember it being here when they were kids - that is how we got the last names of the deceased.

 

[Veronica1228]

It's not a "once was" cemetery. It still is. We have a hill in our front yard (8 feet from the front porch) with a cedar tree planted in the middle of it. I was told by a local historian to check the ground for soft spots and there are several. We were also told where the headstones are and what the last names are. We too thought that the neighbor may be making it up so we asked several other locals who grew up here and they remember it being here when they were kids - that is how we got the last names of the deceased.

You're still just repeating what could be a local legend. You have no proof that there are or were bodies buried there. For all you know the remains may have been removed along with the head stones. You need something more substantial then what you have right now.

 

[rinakay]

cemetery

The whole point is to find out before we take a bulldozer to it. I have called the state archeologist and he can come out with a sonogram machine to prove that there are remains there. I just don't want to disturb anything myself. I think at the very least he should have to pay to have them moved. But my biggest question is....If the law in TN says he has to disclose that and he didn't, did he sell us the house fraudulently? Is there anyway to go back on the contract because that? Can we make him buy the house back from us (and pay for the improvements that we have made)?

 

[maryks]

Go do some research at your local library and your local DAR association...

The library may have maps archived that would show private cemetaries, or what were once cemetaries, in the area (or be able to direct you to someone that would have such).

The DAR will be able to tell you fairly quickly if the names are local names and who their descendants would be (which you might need to know if you were going to exhume the bodies--for permission. They might also be able to shed light on facts.)

And you said someone told you where the gravestones were? Check with that location too, to see if the stones are really there.

Check with the recorder of deeds to see if the property description once included notations for the cemetary.

It is probably a very old family cemetary from the sound of things. You may never know the whole truth... Being from TN, are you familiar with the legend of Daniel Boone? Two states claim his grave--TN and MO. Seems that someone thought he was buried on a MO farm, TN came and exhumed a body, took it back to TN, and the two states have been arguing ever since over who really has the body!! (MO thinks that TN got someone else by accident, BTW.) So you never know with the old family plots.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state? TN
We purchased a home 9 months ago. Previous owner did not disclose to us that our front yard was once a cemetery - small family plot (7 bodies). We would not have bought this house if we had known! He said he doesn't know anything about it but we were told from a neighbor that he was the one that pulled up the headstones 25-30 years ago when he built the house. Is this a matter of He said she said or do we have a case?

My response:

And why does this matter?

IAAL

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Being from TN, are you familiar with the legend of Daniel Boone? Two states claim his grave--TN and MO. Seems that someone thought he was buried on a MO farm, TN came and exhumed a body, took it back to TN, and the two states have been arguing ever since over who really has the body!! (MO thinks that TN got someone else by accident, BTW.) So you never know with the old family plots.

My response:

Neither of those States have Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone was buried at the Alamo, in Texas, where he was killed by them damn Mexicans - - who, by the way, were illegal aliens.

IAAL

 

[rinakay]

Why does it matter? Why does it matter? TN law says that he has to disclose that to us ( I just looked it up) I do not want to live in a cemetery? Do you? We would not have bought this house if we had known that. One reason being is that it reduces the property value which will hurt us in resale since we by law will have to disclose that to the next owners when we decide to sell. It also matters because I can't even put in a sidewalk to my front door without digging up someone's Grandma! We purchased this home to get a good return on our money. We have put time and money into doing improvements to increase the property value. We saw it as a good financial opportunity. We did the same with our previous home and did quite well with it. By this information not being disclosed to us we feel that it has hurt the financial potential that this piece of property has to offer.