Pennsylvania court rules home seller didn't have to disclose swastika tiled into basement floor
The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last Wednesday that the seller of a home did not have to inform potential buyers of hate symbols embedded in his property. It comes after a Beaver County family filed a lawsuit when they found a swastika and what appeared to be a German war eagle tiled under rugs and a table on their basement floor.
Homeowner, Lynn Rae Wentworth said the court had a chance to publicly denounce these symbols of hate.
"We have to start as a community, as Pennsylvanians, standing up and saying, 'This is not right,'" Wentworth said. "I think there was a missed opportunity by the judiciary to legitimize the offensiveness that these symbols bring when put into context with what has happened in history."
The court decided symbols tiled into Wentworth's basement home were not "material defects" that the seller needed to disclose prior to purchase. The judiciary said that defect "must be one that not only substantially impacts the value of the real estate, but lends itself to recognition and quantification by objective standards."
They looked back to a previous ruling when a seller didn't disclose a murder-suicide had taken place in a home they sold, determining it caused "psychological damage" that couldn't be measured monetarily and doesn't impact a property's quality or safety.
In this case, the court said Wentworth can cover the tiles with paint, just as any homebuyer can make renovations to a house.
"It's a lot to have to deal with to get them removed," Wentworth said. "This is, we got to jackhammer that out."
The court added, "Certainly, a significant portion of homebuyers would eschew a house with a crude mosaic of nazi iconography in its basement. Yet there is, sadly but undeniably, a segment of the population who would deem it an asset to the property."
Court records said the seller argued the symbol was a popular design on greeting cards, soft drinks and sports uniforms in the 1920s, and admitted to installing them into his floor in the 70s.
Right now, Wentworth said she hasn't decided whether she's going to appeal. She has just under 30 days.
"My heart is like, a bazillion percent, wants to pursue this right, just because it's the right gosh darn thing to do," Wentworth said.
However, either way, she's not letting this drop, and plans to seek out her lawmakers in hopes that something can change.
"It's important to me as a person and for our culture," Wentworth said.
KDKA reached out to the seller's attorney, Al Torrence, for comment. He said his client "did not hide the symbol; he simply forgot it was there," and "is grateful [the courts] have confirmed that symbols... that do not affect the structural integrity of a home are not required to be disclosed by a seller."