What happens if you become aware that a murder was committed in your home 30 years before you bought it?   You have been made aware of this unpleasant fact not by the nice couple who sold you the house 5 years ago, but by a helpful neighbor down the street who wanted to be sure you were aware of it just as you are pounding the "For Sale" sign into the ground. 

Your first call is to your real estate lawyer. Your first question is if you can sue your Seller. Your second question is whether you, who are now selling, have an affirmative duty to disclose this fact to your Buyer or prospective Buyers.  Under Massachusetts law, with some caveats, the answer to both questions is generally "No."

Under Massachusetts law, neither a seller nor a broker is liable for failing to affirmatively disclose that the property being sold has been "psychologically impacted" (I am not sure how an inanimate object can be "psychologically impacted", but leave it to you to call your representative to complain about the tortured grammar).

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93, Section 114, provides in part as follows:

"The fact or suspicion that real property may be or is psychologically impacted shall not be deemed to be a material fact required to be disclosed in a real estate transaction. ''Psychologically impacted'' shall mean an impact being the result of facts or suspicions including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) that an occupant of real property is now or has been suspected to be infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or any other disease which reasonable medical evidence suggests to be highly unlikely to be transmitted through the occupying of a dwelling;

(b) that the real property was the site of a felony, suicide or homicide; and

(c) that the real property has been the site of an alleged parapsychological or supernatural phenomenon.

No cause of action shall arise or be maintained against a seller or lessor of real property or a real estate broker or salesman, by statute or at common law, for failure to disclose to a buyer or tenant that the real property is or was psychologically impacted.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this section shall not authorize a seller, lessor or real estate broker or salesman to make a misrepresentation of fact or false statement. "

So while a Massachusetts Seller may not be required to affirmatively disclose a past  home invasion, suicide or homicide, the statute does not shield a Seller who misrepresents facts to a Buyer in response to an inquiry on those topics by the Buyer.

You will note that the statute applies not only to mundane crimes, but also to hauntings and other paranormal activity. 

If you are a Buyer and are concerned about these occurrences in your future home, you would be well served to ask the question - and attempt obtain a representation in the Purchase and Sale Agreement from the Seller that survives the delivery of the deed.