The owners of a Los Angeles home that was featured in the FX show “American Horror Story” have sued their brokers, claiming the property’s Hollywood connection was not properly disclosed before the sale.
Ernst von Schwarz and Angela Oakenfold bought the home—which was the central setting of the show’s first season in 2011—for $3.2 million in 2015. They claim in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that the house has attracted fans and impeded their privacy since they moved in. The home is a “macabre tourist attraction,” and fans “trespass, attempt to break in, and [create] a significant nuisance,” the lawsuit states.
Coldwell Banker brokers Stephan Apelian and Joyce Rey represented both the buyers and sellers in the transaction, and the real estate professionals have not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
The owners said that immediately after they bought the home, they started noticing people wandering around outside on the property. Doug Vanderpool, the owners’ attorney, says they have had “weekly” break-ins. “A week before I first visited them [to work on the case], they had been awakened by the sound of glass breaking; someone came in through the window in the kitchen,” Vanderpool told real estate news site
The Real Deal. The couple contacted the police.
Vanderpool alleges that the sellers and brokers had a duty to disclose the home’s role in the TV show, as well as the frequent visitors the home attracts. The owners say they would not have purchased the home if they had known. However, they say they don’t intend to sell the mansion; they are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the lawsuit.
Source: “‘American Horror Story’ House Has Become a Nightmare: Lawsuit,” The Real Deal (Feb. 8, 2018)
