Homebuyers sue previous owners after discovering violent death occurred years earlier

Homeowners in Hudson, Que. are suing the prior owners for not disclosing that an intruder was stabbed and killed in the house years before.

The owners of a home in Hudson, Que. are suing the previous owners for close to half-a-million dollars after discovering a home intruder in 2020 had been stabbed inside the home and died.

The lawsuit alleges the previous owners failed to disclose the death on the seller’s declaration.

The lakefront home west of Montreal was sold in April 2024 for just under $1.6 million. According to court documents, shortly after moving in the new owners discovered that four years earlier there had been a home invasion that turned deadly.

A deadly home invasion, four years earlier

According to a coroner’s report, a 52-year-old man suffering from schizophrenia broke into the home and attacked the owner and her adult daughter. In self-defence, the owner stabbed the intruder 10 times.

The coroner says he tried to leave but collapsed outside the home near the front door. He was declared dead in hospital.

‘Did I die in the hospital or in a car crash?’

Years later, when the home was listed for sale, on the seller’s declaration the owners answered “no” that a violent death or suicide had happened in the house.

“Since the question is very bluntly asked, you have to answer it frankly,” said real estate lawyer Maxime Laflamme, who is not associated with the case.

He says sellers have to be fully transparent but says the question is open to interpretation.

“If I get in a car crash but I die in the hospital, did I die in the hospital or in a car crash? It’s a little bit that the paradox of the event occurred in the home, but a consequence occurred outside of it.”

Buyers allege deliberate deception

In their lawsuit, the eventual buyers allege they were deliberately misled and are suing the sellers for $425,000 — 25 per cent of the sale price, plus damages.

“If the plaintiffs had been informed of this violent death ... and the tragic circumstances of this widely publicized tragedy in a timely manner, they would not have purchased the property or paid the asked price,” the buyers alleged in the court document.

Real estate broker Mark-Andre Martel, who is also not involved in the case, says he’ll typically knock 10 to 15 per cent off the asking price if a violent death or suicide has to be declared.

“Ultimately, when you have that type of disclosure it diminishes the pool of buyers for any given property. And if you have less buyers, well then the price will be lower as well,” Martel told CTV News.

Sellers say declaration was accurate

The sellers’ listing agent is also being sued for $25,000. In her statement of defence, she claims: “The seller’s declaration … accurately described the incident … it would have been incorrect to indicate in that declaration that [the intruder’s] death occurred on the property, as no evidence supports such a conclusion.”

In another section, the sellers did indicate there had been an “intrusion / altercation” in 2020. The defendants claim the buyers should have asked more questions.

‘A tug-of-war’ over transparency

Laflamme says, legally, buyers do need to be diligent but they can also expect transparent and honest information.

“It’s probably going to be this kind of tug-of-war between where the seller is entirely forthcoming. And did the buyers inquire enough?” he said.

The lawyers representing the sellers did not respond to CTV News’ request for comment.