The dead dog dilemma
Sam Schneiderman, broker owner of Great Boston Home Team (our Monday guy) discusses a deed restriction created for the love of a dog.
It’s no secret that some people are very attached to their pets. This is a story that I heard a while ago about homeowners that were so attached to their pet dog that they buried him in their back yard. Being a rather large dog, they buried him in a human sized coffin.
I probably wouldn’t be writing about this if it happened in a rural or even a spacious suburban setting. It happened in a densely populated urban neighborhood.
Aside from the obvious question of how the heck the neighbors didn’t get suspicious and call the police about the burial of a human coffin in a large back yard grave, as a broker I can’t help but wonder if the grieving owners thought about what they would do when they sold their property. (It is understandable if they did not.)
As I understand the story, years later they went to sell. Without prior discussion, their listing agent handed a purchase and sale agreement to the buyers and said something like;
"I am sure that you’ll be understanding regarding the sellers’ addition of a condition that their dog’s grave remain undisturbed and their intent to retain the right to exhume the coffin and/or remains in the event that you want to do something with that part of the yard in the future."
Apparently, the seller’s plan was to not only restrict the incoming buyers to this condition, but to require them to carry it forward when they sold the home by means of a deed restriction.
The buyers were understanding and willing to accept the seller’s conditions. Their buyer’s agent and their attorney were against the idea. My understanding is that the buyers canceled the transaction and they were out their legal and inspection fees.
As I see it, this story illustrates a number of issues regarding home ownership, buying, selling and brokering:
1. Any time that a property owner does something to their property that might have an impact on a future buyer, the owner should probably consult an experienced real estate attorney and agent about the possible impact.
2. Potential buyers and their agents should always be aware of how deed restrictions will impact the re-sale of a property that they are considering buying.
3. Sellers should discuss all issues of concern with their agents and/or attorney up front, before putting their property on the market, so that solutions to possible problems for buyers can be identified and resolved ahead of time.
4. Agents should disclose what they know as soon as they know it. Even if the agent didn’t know about the issue until the last minute, disclosure and discussion probably would have been more effective at resolving the dilemma than the “assumption” that the buyers probably wouldn’t be concerned.
Buyers, sellers, agents and attorneys, what would you have done if you found yourself in a similar dilemma?
