On the other hand, if an agent representing a potential homebuyer fails to mention that a convicted child molester lives in the area and the molester attacks a member of the new family, that family might also file suit. The agents have won exemptions from any responsibility in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. In Connecticut, pending legislation would require agents to include on standard disclosure forms any resources that would help homeowners ferret out information on child molesters. Similar legislation has been proposed in other states. Her parents didn't know their neighbor was a pedophile and waged a national campaign to make public certain information on convicted sex offenders.
Requirements vary among states.
After states began passing such laws, the real estate industry unsuccessfully lobbied the Justice Department for a regulation that would free agents from obligations to disclose the information. Now, the agents are lobbying legislators nationwide. The question is whether a sex offender living down the block falls into the same category. A New Jersey judge, for example, ruled that nearby hazardous waste must be divulged to home buyers. Your resale value goes to hell if a child molester moves in down the block.