Milliken v. Jacono

60 A.3d 133 (2012)

Facts

On February 11, 2006, the owner of the property prior to D, Konstantinos Koumboulis, allegedly shot his wife and himself at that property. D purchased the property from the Koumboulis Estate at a real estate auction on September 23, 2006. On May 1, 2007, a Consumer Notice was signed by P regarding duties of real estate professionals which notes that buyer's agents have a duty of confidentiality except for the disclosure of known material defects about the property. D spoke with Brian Collins and Judith Schulder, representatives of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission, who confirmed that the murder/suicide was not a material defect that needed to be disclosed. Ds then entered into a Listing Agreement for sale of the property with the Re/Max Defendants on June 4, 2007. The Re/Max Defendants called the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors Legal Hotline and were told that the murder/suicide was not a material defect which required disclosure. The Seller Property Disclosure Statement dated June 17, 2007, does not disclose the murder/suicide as a known material defect. P alleges that she was unaware of the murder/suicide until three weeks after she moved into the property, allegedly sometime in September 2007. P did not review them or investigate Mr. Koumboulis' ownership. The Title Report included a statement that this property was conveyed by the Estate of Kostantinos Koumboulis and Estate of Georgia Koumboulis to D by Deed dated October 31, 2006, and recorded January 19, 2007. P sued Ds after the suicide discovery. P testified she read the Title Report and recognized that D had purchased the property from the Koumboulis Estate, but proceeded with the transaction. The trial court ruled for D and P appealed.