Do Illinois Realtors Have To Tell You If Someone Died In A House?

A house's history factors a lot into a decision to buy it. But do realtors in Illinois have to tell you everything about the property?

I'm pretty convinced my apartment building is haunted. It's quite old, there's a really good chance people died in at some point throughout the Quad Cities' history. As long as the ghosts stay in their lane, I'll stay in mine and we can be chill roomies.

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The classic scary movie premise is someone moving into a house that's haunted by it's previous owner that died in it or on the property. A few times, you'll even see the realtor with them at the beginning. And have you noticed that even though the realtor likely knows the morbid history of the house, they don't snitch on it? We could've avoided a whole two-hour haunting if that realtor had just let the new owners know.

That's Realistic To An Extent

It helps to know the history of a house so you can get a feel for how much maintenance and work it will need going forward. But that's about where the need-to-know stops. Most states don't require realtors or home sellers to disclose that someone has died in a house.

In Illinois, realtors don't have to tell you someone died in a house unless you explicitly ask, according to Apartment Therapy. If you actually ask the home seller or realtor that question, they must tell you the truth.

If there was a death in the house and it was caused by something like murder or suicide, your agent may want to let you know about it to save their own reputation. Realtor Michele Messina told Apartment Therapy:

In this case, if you do not disclose, your reputation could be at stake because the buyer may not trust you to share important information, particularly if this is a highly publicized violent event...Often people walk in, and they feel the energy of the home.

Hopefully the only ghosts hanging around your house are the ones you put up for Halloween.