Realty 101: Read the Fine Print

Man Can't Get Out of 'Haunted' Apartment

from The Associated Press

SHANGHAI, China - A Shanghai court has turned down a man's attempt to cancel his apartment purchase after learning of a grisly murder committed there by a past resident.

Liu Hezhi said he was cheated into buying the apartment by original owner Yang Haixiang, claiming Yang lied when he said he wanted to sell quickly in order to buy a new property, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported.

"Yang cheated me into buying the apartment," Liu was quoted as saying.

Many Chinese believe homes where such inauspicious acts have occurred retain bad luck. Public knowledge of such incidents can make properties virtually impossible to sell.

Shanghai's No. 2 district court ruled that Liu had signed the final contract for the property even after learning that a former resident had killed his lover and dismembered her body inside the apartment.

Yang claimed that he too had been ignorant of the murder when the initial contract with Liu was signed.


Tenants Find Alien Protection Device Upon Move-In

from KCCI-8 Des Moines

DAVENPORT, Iowa - A home in eastern Iowa no longer has the power to scare off underground aliens.

Police have taken away a device from a home in Davenport after its new tenants discovered a box containing what they thought was a bomb.

But the house's former owner said it was designed to scare off aliens living underground.

Jessica Harper moved out of the house last month and left behind the box. She said she got it from her mother's friend, an astrologer who Harper describes as "off his rocker."

She said she didn't want to throw it away because it wasn't hers.

The new tenants discovered the box Monday and evacuated their home while the local bomb squad investigated.

Authorities would not confirm the device's purpose, but they said it looks dangerous.