Let the Buyer Be Well Informed? - Doubting the Demise of Caveat Emptor

Returning home from grocery shopping one evening last spring, a forty-two-year-old architect was killed in the presence of his wife and children on the street outside his St. Louis townhouse by a gunshot to the neck during an attempted carjacking.2 By the next morning, police had arrested and obtained a confession from a recently released parolee wearing an electronic ankle bracelet.3 Several homes in the neighborhood, previously considered to be generally free of serious crime, were listed for sale at the time of this incident. Human experience teaches that other homes are likely to be offered for sale in the aftermath of this incident. Private morality and conscience will inform each seller\u27s decision whether to volunteer information about this notorious crime to potential purchasers from outside the community, or to respond expansively if asked about security. Some of these sellers may also seek the advice of counsel