Members of the Commission's legal staff receive numerous calls from licensees and consumers. Often these calls are inquiries about whether a given set of circumstances constitutes a "material fact" about a property that should be disclosed to prospective tenants or purchasers. Sometimes these inquiries go beyond circumstances concerning the structure or physical condition of the property itself; but whatever the question, it is given careful consideration and an objective answer.
However, a recent call to Consumer Protection Officer Anita Burt produced a question that was a true test of her objectivity. A property manager reported that one of her former tenants had owned a very large boa constrictor. The snake had recently escaped and was still missing when the tenant vacated the property.
Because the boa constrictor had not been found prior to the termination of the tenant's lease, the property manager was faced with the question of disclosing the missing reptile to prospective tenants.
Although Ms. Burt admits a bias against snakes, especially very large ones, she professes to have put her prejudice aside when she told the licensee that the snake incident was indeed a material fact, and that in her opinion, it "would affect the decision of a reasonable and prudent person whether or not to rent the property!" |
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