Website 'Died in House' can tell you how many people have passed away in your home and how
The site searches data from death certificates, news reports and 130 million police records
With Halloween approaching, you may now be able to find out if your home could be haunted through a website that reveals how many people have died in residential properties.
Users simply enter their address into the aptly named, Died in House, and the site will search data from US death certificates, news reports and 130 million police records to determine if someone has ever passed away there.
The service, which costs $12 (£7.80) to use, can also tell you if there has been any “reported Meth activity”, including labs, “dumpsites” and “chemical and glassware”.
The site’s algorithm uses records predominantly collected after the 1980s, when information began to be digitalised, although the site's team say they are aiming to gather records prior to this.
Owner of the US-based site, Roy Condrey, said he created Died in House, after "I found out that someone died in my house before I bought it."
"I assumed it was part of the disclosure process," he added, "but unfortunately found out that it was not. I discovered that most states do not have any laws to disclose a death occurrence in a property no matter how it occurred (murder, suicide, accident, illness or natural).
"What I also discovered is that there is not a single place to go and that the research is very time consuming."
Mr Condrey later learned at least 4.5 million homes across the US have documented deaths on the premises, Forbes magazine reports.
“There was no database for this information until DiedInHouse.com,” says Mr Condrey.
For those wondering how accurate the site is, Forbes searched five addresses in the database and found it accurately gave information about a meth lab at a house in Ohio, the murders at the Amityville Horror House and detailed ownership records of a New York office building.
The site is currently only available for valid US addresses although, in America, a death in a home is viewed as a "material fact" and does not need to be disclosed to any potential buyers of a property.
Despite this, a death in a home could decrease its value by 25 per cent and increase the time it spends on the market by 50 per cent, according to the site.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies