Quoting from the ruling,
The unusual facts of this case, as disclosed by the record, clearly warrant a grant of equitable relief to the buyer who, as a resident of New York City, cannot be expected to have any familiarity with the folklore of the Village of Nyack. Not being a "local," plaintiff could not readily learn that the home he had contracted to purchase is haunted. Whether the source of the spectral apparitions seen by defendant seller are parapsychic or psychogenic, having reported their presence in both a national publication ("Readers' Digest") and the local press (in 1977 and 1982, respectively), defendant is estopped to deny their existence and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted.
It should be pointed out from the start that the court isn't saying that ghosts exist, just that for all legal purposes the house in question was haunted. The seller claimed repeatedly, including to the magazines mentioned above, that the house he owned was haunted, to the point where it became local "knowledge." The purchasers were unaware of this, and bought the house thinking it was "normal." The seller never told them it was haunted, but because he had already claimed it was, he was legally bound to accept knowledge that the house was haunted, in his own opinion, and he should have disclosed that knowledge to the buyers before he made the sale.
-koji K.
[edit on 8-9-2005 by koji_K]
