Whether you are buying or selling a home, Megan’s Law could affect whether the real estate transaction proceeds.
If you have a family, you want to ensure they will be safe in their new home. When asked, “Are there any sexual offenders near me?” Megan’s Law helps you find out.
We will examine this law and how it can affect real estate disclosures.
What is Megan’s Law?
Megan’s Law requires sex offenders to have their names in a register, and sometimes they also need to notify law enforcement when they move home.
The law is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender in 1994. Her murderer was a neighbor, who her parents didn’t know was a sex offender.
To try to prevent this horror from happening to other families, the law gives parents information about convicted sex offenders in their neighborhood.
How does Megan’s Law affect buyers?
Part of the process of buying a home often involves disclosures. In some states, real estate disclosure laws require the seller to provide the buyer with details of any known problems. This could include things wrong with the home, but it could also be issues outside of the property in the local area.
Part of this disclosure could be related to Megan’s Law. This will tell the buyer how they can find out if there are sexual predators nearby. They could cancel the homebuying process if they find a convicted offender in the neighborhood.
This will be particularly important to families and allows them to make sure they aren’t going to be moving in next door to someone who could threaten their child.
Researching sex predators is something that should be researched before purchasing.
Could Megan’s Law reduce the chances of selling a home?
If you are selling your home, and an offender is found living nearby, it could make finding a buyer more difficult.
While the offender might have moved in after you purchased the home, it could still negatively affect the value of your home. This is, of course, not your fault and could make selling more difficult.
Though this situation could lose you money through no fault of your own, this isn’t necessarily something you have to disclose. The real estate disclosure only applies to things you know about. If you are unaware of a sexual offender in your neighborhood, you can’t disclose something you don’t know about.
There also isn’t a requirement for you to do research to help the buyer. Only the things you already know about the home and the area are legally required to be included in the seller’s disclosure.
In some states, sellers may not have to disclose anything due to “Caveat Emptor” laws or let the buyer beware.
Real estate disclosure laws
While the exact details of what is required in real estate disclosures can vary between states, it could include a Megan’s Law Database Disclosure form. This gives the buyer information on how to check if there is an offender in the neighborhood.
Providing this information is often all the seller must do to complete their requirement under disclosure laws. It isn’t the responsibility of the seller to do this research on behalf of their buyer.
Though the buyer is given the information to check if there is a sexual offender in the neighborhood, it doesn’t mean they will actually take the opportunity to do this research. Even if an offender is close by, the buyer might not be concerned enough to search the database. This will mean that Megan’s Law won’t be a factor in whether the sale goes ahead or not.
The buyer will sign the disclosure form, indicating that they are aware of their rights and the ability to check for offenders in the area. If they fail to do their due diligence on this, the sale will proceed without affecting the seller.
Final thoughts
Real estate disclosures are essential for the buyer to discover any problems with the home or neighborhood. Megan’s Law allows buyers to ensure their family will be safe in their new home, but only if they use that opportunity.
REALTORS® are essential in ensuring their client’s interests are protected. A buyer’s agent should make sure their client is fully aware of everything they need to know before buying the home. Part of that is ensuring they understand the disclosure and Megan’s Law.
A local real estate attorney may also be helpful.
While discussing this subject isn’t going to be at the top of anyone’s list, using Megan’s Law to check the area is something buyers need to understand.
Bill Gassett is a nationally recognized real estate leader who has been helping people buy and sell MetroWest Massachusetts real estate for the past 35 years.
