Possible Crime History Of A Site

[torvald]

sort of random but... how do you see if there have been any past crimes in your building? i know there is a listing on the city of houston website that has some specific crime statistics back to 1985. is there any way a prospective homeowner can check out (within reason) the possible crime history of a site?

[TJones]

sort of random but... how do you see if there have been any past crimes in your building? i know there is a listing on the city of houston website that has some specific crime statistics back to 1985. is there any way a prospective homeowner can check out (within reason) the possible crime history of a site?

You can ask the realtor if there is any history of a murder on the property, or has anyone died on the property,if there was a meth lab, or if there is any paranormal activity on the premises. They have to reveal such information if asked. If they lie and then you later find out that something did happen, you have recourse, but you have to prove that the realtor or prior owners had knowledge. i.e. previous owner being involved in such activities.

Edited October 18, 2005 by TJones

[torvald]

You can ask the realtor if there is any history of a murder on the property...

what source(s) would the realtor use to find out other than relying on the previous owner's word?

[TJones]

what source(s) would the realtor use to find out other than relying on the previous owner's word?

I think you can pay a small fee at the police dept. for a report on a certain area of town, and it lists the crimes within a certain time period. I betcha RedScare might know how to go about finding a police report on a piece of property or area around the property.

Edited October 18, 2005 by TJones

[torvald]

I betcha RedScare might know how to go about finding a police report on a piece of property or area around the property.

this would have been a while ago on a property near st. thomas campus. i am a renter but interested in the possible history of the property... red scare, can you assist?

[RedScare]

You can get a list of police calls to a particular residence by requesting it from HPD. I believe you will need to go to headquarters downtown to get this. Problem is, like almost all computerized records, they only go back so far. Then you'll have to go into research mode, searching old newspapers and such. If there are any old time neighbors around, you might start with them. Or try the people at the library, who may give tips on how to look for things like this.

Good luck.

Edited October 19, 2005 by RedScare

[dbigtex56]

Here's another question:

I'd heard that back in the mid-80's, (due to widespread fear and ignorance) realtors were required to disclose if the previous resident/owner of a property had died of AIDS. Is this still the case?

[TJones]

Here's another question:

I'd heard that back in the mid-80's, (due to widespread fear and ignorance) realtors were required to disclose if the previous resident/owner of a property had died of AIDS. Is this still the case?

I don't think you have to disclose the cause of death, just that there was a death in or on the property.

Edited October 19, 2005 by TJones

[torvald]

I'd heard that back in the mid-80's, (due to widespread fear and ignorance) realtors were required to disclose if the previous resident/owner of a property had died of AIDS. Is this still the case?

wow -- i remember as a younger kid spending the night at a school friend's house because they were about to move. the next day they took me with them "to look at the new house" and i ended up "helping" the parents and the schoolchild take up all off the carpet (a thick & nifty green shag), foam underpadding and curtains which went into bags. whilst the parents had gloves and dust masks i only had a dust mask. i remember feeling pretty swindled by the parents losing my temper after poking myself on carpet tacks several times trying to finish so i could leave the situation and go home. when we were done they left the carpet rolled up at the curb for heavy trash.

the father mentioned that the materials were contaminated. i asked why and he said that the previous owner had died of AIDS and because of that the house was very inexpensive and all they had to do was remove the "contaminated" things that were porous. i remember being really confused about that. it was pretty inhuman of them to say that and being ignorant about the disease (i only had the primary school health lesson, which at that time was quite ignorant too and rumor to site). i instantly thought of all of the tack pokes. when i was finally delivered home i told my father and he was irate. not only was i used for labor that day they had no regard for introducing me to a situation they believed to be dangerous.

i ended up getting a blood test, which of course was negative. i do remember sitting at the doctor's office though, thinking that if i hadn't of pulled up the carpet, i wouldn't have been stuck. so chances are they didn't stick themselves either.

so there's along winded story to explain a chance thing i overheard as a child. so maybe that answers your question. i never saw the kid again because they moved away -- otherwise i'd never talk to him again. shows how ignorant folks were back then about such things.

Edited October 24, 2005 by torvald

[TJones]

I'm guessing this would have been around '83 to '85 ? Nobody knew anything about this AIDS thing, back then. It was the new "smallpox", and the CDC just didn't have the right science yet to determine how or when a person could catch the disease. I don't know if you've ever seen a movie called, "And the band played on." I think it is an excellent movie, and chronologs the progression of the disease as best that it can be in a 2 hour and a half hour span.