Seller who didn’t tell buyer about murder at Vancouver mansion granted court appeal

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A woman who wasn’t told the Vancouver mansion she almost bought nearly a decade ago was the scene of a deadly shooting may be headed back to court to get her deposit back.

A decision by the BC Supreme Court judge who ruled in Feng Yun Shao’s favour last year has been overturned by the BC Court of Appeal.

In 2009, she demanded her deposit back after she learned Raymond Huang, a man with gang ties, was shot and killed outside the Shaughnessy property in 2007.

She initially agreed to pay $6.1-million for the house on Cartier Street near Granville and King Edward.

Last year, the former owner was ordered to give her back $300,000 with interest.

RELATED: B.C. judge says undisclosed murder is reason to renege on mansion purchase

Mei Zhen Wang has now been granted an appeal because the higher court has ruled she didn’t have to tell the buyer the troubling history of the house.

Erin Seeley, the Executive Officer of the Real Estate Council of BC says that’s not a legal obligation.

“It’s really still buyer-beware when it comes to the purchase and sale of real estate and there are many circumstances where buyers need to do their homework and they need to be thorough.”

She adds certain details are only disclosed if the buyer asks specific questions.

“Was there a murder at this address? And in that case, the seller could instruct their agent not to disclose the stigma and there, the agent would have to say, I’m unable to answer the question.”

RELATED: Murder houses a tough sell, but a home’s dark past may stay hidden

Seeley tells NEWS 1130 that’s because a past homicide or whether a house is believed to be haunted are not considered defects.

“Sellers and real estate agents are required by law to disclose material latent defects, but they’re not required to disclose the existence of a possible stigma –something that might be of a subjective concern to a specific buyer.”

The house did eventually sell to someone else for $5.5-million.

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