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.
I still think this could be a great way to Buy Low and Sell High
Notice how this guy starts out saying “sex offender” then he switches to “sex predator” then just “offender”, like, make up your mind dude. This guy is also in Massachusetts where I’m at. And he leaves something very important out of the article. Most registrants are tier 1, and members of the public cannot access registrant information. So it’s not that potential buyers don’t want to know if “predators” are in the neighborhood, buyers just can’t find them all even if they tried. You’d think this real-estate consultant would mention this fact, but he’s more interested in scaring buyers into running to him and paying some consulting fee for hogwash information that won’t help anyone.
OK, full disclosure… couldn’t actually get through every word of this article. Maybe half…good enough to call it quits. So if there is some nuance I missed…that’s why.
George is selling his home, or trying to. It’s been on the market for, close to a year now. He’s had 2 potential buyers, but neither panned out. Not totally sure why for either.
Who’s George? He’s the man that lives directly across the street from my apartment building. He’s good friends with a man that lives in my building, whom I speak with often. I don’t really know George, mostly because, “George” speaks very little English, and my pathetic “Taco Bell” Spanish doesn’t help.
Did I have anything to do with either of these deals falling through? Did I have anything to do with the fact George has had only 2 interested parties this whole time? The obvious answer should be no. I don’t live there, and even if I did, I’d be living with George and leaving with George once the home is sold. I’ve never do much as step foot on his porch, much less gone into his home. Why would I do any of that with the new owners, unless they invited me to? Never met either of the potential buyers, didn’t even know there were any interested parties until after the desk died.
How is it even possible that I could have any impact on the sake of his house? We all know how…and why. It is directly across the street. His front door is, less than a hundred feet from mine, as the crow flies. Shouldn’t matter, but we all know it could…how it could…and why.
Ever since I found out that George, this man I smile and wave to whenever he smiles and waves at me, for the last about 4 years, is selling his home, I’ve had to wonder how bad that will be for him, and me. We all know what could happen to him…
Fewer views, fewer offers, lower offers, less desirable buyers taking over the house, in the neighborhood, he has lived in for about 40 years…
All because of me.
I will admit, as bad as that makes me feel for George, and Mrs. George, who speaks no English at all, and rarely leaves the house due to some kinda…medical…situation, I also have concern for myself. I have been lucky with George. He has been unfailingly friendly, and kind..even generous. I was just sitting in the really nice chair he gave me for…Spanish language reasons I never fully understood, but knew were kind based on the smiles and laughter. Will I be so lucky with the new owners…or will they give me other things…like dirty looks, hateful, hurtful names, bruises…a trip to the Emergency room…or the morgue? Who knows…I certainly don’t.
I once mentioned here that U-Haul trucks make me nervous. Used to just be when I would see them nearby, being loaded or unloaded by people moving in or out of my immediate neighborhood. That happened so frequently here, that it expanded to Uhauls just near my home. Then further and further from home that now, just seeing one anywhere. The upside is, I’ve gotten so used to that, I’m able to beat the fear down so quickly, and so totally, that I am able to pretend that it didn’t even happen. Yes, my life long practice of suppressing my emotions, have once again made it possible to function, without drawing attention to myself, despite numerous, unpredictable, fear producing events that I feel totally powerless to prevent or protect myself from.
Yeah, like when my Brother used to sneak into my bedroom, and wake me up by poking me with a baseball bat…then just stand there… staring at me…silently letting me know that this little scene could have gone differently, and next time maybe it will. Yeah, first dozen or so times, totally loose it…but I mean after a few years, and dozens upon dozens of occurrences…by the 30th or so time, I was a big boy of 9…can’t be crying like a baby anymore.
Of course, with that I had extra assistance in understanding that this was entirely my fault. He made that abundantly clear. Now I have to wait for some total stranger to explain this to me… usually in threatening self-righteous tones. Lucky for me, there will always be someone there to explain to me how, no matter what happens it’s my fault. Yeah, everywhere I go, there is always someone to do that.
Many of you had childhoods just as bad as mine…only difference is… I share specific anecdotes from mine.
Ok, back to the usual…free falling though my pointless life, waiting for it to end.
LOL, sometimes I think the only thing I want for…that thing that’s coming up in a few days…used to know what it was. Yeah, used to have some meaning to me…in some way. Anywho, I recall that…gift giving is…do people still do that? The news seems to suggest that still happens so…assuming that is correct…
All I want for…that one day….is a MASSIVE coronary to take me all the way out in one shot. No, bigger!!! Like…big enough to…kinda…poof…blackout…tick tick tick…dead.
Silly thought, but can’t help but think it sometimes. Yes, I know…my fault. I hope, that unlike the childhood similarities we may share, we do not share this. I have no hope for myself, but I still hope for you!
Yes yes yes…I agree…all my fault.
This is how I have time to write so many long, long posts. How I have the time, and why I do it. Waiting to die is a 24×7 thing, but doesn’t take too much effort on a moment to moment basis.
Yes yes…my fault…yes, always my fault. It’s all, always been, all my fault. Everything…always…I know.
Pease feel free to use that to make yourself feel better…by…some means.
When i moved into the neighborhood 17 years ago it was all white! now i am the only white guy on the block and when they got wind of me they must have said “Well there goes the neighborhood” P.S That’s meant to be funny!just sayin.