Idaho Snake House provides lesson for home buyers – beware of what real estate agents say!

The current story about the snake house in Idaho as reported by the Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015331099_snakesonahouse16.html and elsewhere on the web (check out the youtube videos!) provides a hard lesson. Don’t believe everything real estate agents say. The story is that the presence of snakes was disclosed. According to the article in the Seattle Times, “When they bought the house, the couple signed a document that noted the snake infestation. They said their real-estate agent assured them that the snake story was invented by the previous owners to leave their mortgage behind.”
The law in Ohio regarding the sale of real property is caveat emptor, that is, buyer beware. See Layman v. Binns (1988), 35 Ohio St.3d 176. Furthermore, real estate agents in Ohio are subject to several provisions of the Ohio Revised Code which are applicable in this type of situation.
Bottom line, buyers should rely on what their own due diligence uncovers and not believe everything a real estate agent says. After all is said and done, it is the buyer who will live with the consequences. In the case of the Snake House in Idaho, that meant bankruptcy for the buyers.