Death knocking at disclosure's door

DEAR BENNY: A relative with a terminal disease was recently found unresponsive while visiting my home. We called an ambulance but he never recovered. We now have our home for sale and am wondering if we are required by state or federal law to disclose this information to our buyer. The neighbors were certainly aware of the fire department and the ambulance being here. Most people die in the hospital but many die at home, and I don't know whether there is a law regarding this that I should be aware of. --Delores

DEAR DELORES: You will have to ask an attorney in your state, because there are different disclosure laws throughout the country. But what's the harm in disclosing this -- especially if anyone asks you if there is anything unusual about the house? To die of natural causes in a house is quite different from being murdered.

I believe in full disclosure. I have represented clients over the years who bought a house, only to learn later that there were undisclosed problems -- such as leaking roofs, defective heating appliances, etc. Many of these clients did not have an inspection contingency, which was their mistake. Some of their sellers lied when they filled out the disclosure statements.

Regardless of whose fault it is, put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Wouldn't you want to know as much about the house as possible? I always appreciate real estate transactions where sellers go out of their way to make the transition as comfortable as possible, even preparing written material about how to operate the equipment, where the local library and supermarkets are, and some basic information about the new neighbors.

DEAR BENNY: Many years ago, my mom and dad bought a house for my sister. She is very bad with money and has always had bad credit. My parents put the house in their name as she could not get a mortgage, with the agreement that she would put the money in a joint bank account monthly to pay for it. She did for many years. My mom has since passed away and over a year ago my sister stopped paying the mortgage.

My father is 80 years old and constantly worries about this situation. It consumes him. He does not want to damage his credit by not paying, but he will not kick her out. He doesn't stop talking about it. I am afraid it's going to kill him. My sister refuses to take his calls, won't respond to letters, etc. My dad lives in Maryland and the house is in Florida. I have told my frugal father to hire a lawyer numerous times.

This has caused a huge burden on our family unit. I want to help my father so he can enjoy his old age and live in peace. Do you have any legal advice? Is there any way we can remove her from the premises legally while giving her time to find somewhere else to live? I am thinking maybe my dad can rent it or take a loss and just sell it. Let me know if you know of any legal avenues my father could take to force her to take over the mortgage. --Victoria

DEAR VICTORIA: While this involves your family, in reality this is a problem between you father and your sister. If he does not want to take legal (or any) action against his daughter, that is his business and, respectfully, not yours.

Your father will have to keep paying the mortgage so as to preserve the house as well as his credit rating.

DEAR BENNY: Do you have to be a U.S. citizen to get a mortgage? Before I go ahead, are there any pointers you might have? --Terry

DEAR TERRY: That's an interesting question and I am not sure of the answer. To my knowledge, there is no restriction on a noncitizen getting a mortgage. The lender may want to be more careful in examining your financial situation, especially since you probably don't pay federal income tax.

My suggestion is to talk with a number of lenders and explain your situation. The best advice I can give any potential buyer/borrower: Shop around and compare interest rates and terms and conditions. On Jan. 1, 2010, new federal disclosure rules will take effect, which should make comparison shopping easier. In a future column, I will discuss these new rules. ...CONTINUED

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