Milliken v. Jacono

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. 

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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