Real Estate Disclosure and Ancient Roman Lawsuits

I have been reading some very old books lately.  My most recent one happens to be a work by Cicero of Rome.  While plodding through, the book comes to an interesting section describing litigation from ancient real estate transactions.

First, some background on Roman law. In Roman cities, there were zoning ordinances that allowed for neighbors to have the water from their gutters run-off onto a neighbors homes.  Due to density, a homeowner could also use their neighbor's wall as a support for their own structure.  The laws also dealt with height restrictions on construction of residences so as to not darken the light falling upon existing residences.

One example on the book involves a case against Marius Gratidianus who sold a home to a man named Aurata.  Marius failed to disclose to Aurata the specific zoning ordinances that encumbered his building.  The result was a lawsuit where Aurata sought indemnification from the zoning ordinances due to a lack of disclosure by Marius.

In another example, Marius Bucculcius sold a home to Lucia Fufius with the stipulation that the window lights should remain as they were.  However, Fufius, being a litigious man, sued Marius when a building began to be constructed some distance away from his home.  His logic? That whatever portion of the sky was interrupted by the construction of an new building on the skyline, at however great a distance, the window light underwent a change.

These are some interesting examples that have some analogy to real estate transactions today.  In modern times, the buyer is responsible for doing zoning research, but the seller still has to give material information about the condition of the property.  This precedent dates back to Roman law which "ordained, to avoid deceit in bargain and sale, that the seller should give notice of all the bad qualities in the thing sold which he knew of, or pay damages to the purchaser for his silence."

This sounds a lot like our seller disclosures today.

So while buying and selling real estate, be sure disclosures are a part of the transaction to make for a transparent and satisfying experience. 

If you are thinking of selling your property and have questions on this subject, contact me and I can answer your questions for you and explain the forms we use.