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Court Judgement Made In The New Jersey Haunted House Lawsuit
A Court Judgement Has Been Ruled In The New Jersey Haunted House Lawsuit. The Paranormal Lawsuit Was Heard In The People's Court, A New York Based Television Show. Read The Full Story Here On HauntedSociety.com Paranormal News.
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
Article By: Phillip Brunelle
www.HauntedSociety.com
NEW YORK, NY -- When a New Jersey couple moved into a rental home and noticed it was haunted, they stopped paying their landlord rent, and wanted to break their lease and move out. Soon after, Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey state court and the case quickly became national news.
According to court documents, Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan alleged several paranormal experiences shortly after moving into the Toms River, NJ home. Chinchilla and Callan said they heard dragging noises coming from the basement, and they heard footsteps and voices at night while in bed.
The couple also claimed they came home to find their clothes thrown out of their bedroom closet, and doors throughout the house could be heard opening and slamming shut almost on a daily basis.
Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan are engaged to be married, and they moved into the house on March 1st, 2012 with Callan’s teenage daughter and 6-year-old son. The couple said before they could even settle into the house, the paranormal activity became so intense that they were forced to move out of the house, breaking their lease.
The couple moved their family into a local motel on March 10th, just ten days after moving into the house, and after they were unable to get their money back from their landlord, Dr. Richard Lopez, they filed what is being called one of the most unusual lawsuits of all time.
Producers with the People's Court television show comb through thousands of lawsuits being filed across the United States every day. They came across the case filed by Chinchilla and Callan and were able to get the couple and the landlord agree to have their case heard on the show.
On May 4th, 2012 the real-life haunted house case of Chinchilla and Callan vs. Lopez was heard by Judge Marilyn Milian of the nationally syndicated television program, The People's Court. Although the case will not be seen on television until the start of the shows new season in September, a judgement was made.
Judge Marilyn Milian ruled on behalf of the landlord, Dr. Richard Lopez, a New Jersey dentist, and homeowner of the reportedly haunted rental house. Judge Milian ordered Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan to pay Lopez three month's rent, and since many of their possessions are still in the house, the couple would also forfeit their security depost.
In addition the this ruling, Judge Milian ordered the landlord, Dr. Richard Lopez, to spend a night in the allegedly haunted house, as it's only fair for a landlord to experience what he is expecting for other couples to live in when they rent the house.
"Whether or not the New Jersey house is haunted appears to have been immaterial under the law", Michele Callan said, who doesn't think the ruling was fair.
The New Jersey haunted house lawsuit has been the center of discussion in paranormal blogs and online forums, and we're interested in knowing what you think of the decision made in the case. Do you think the ruling was fair? Do you think if the judgement had been ruled in favor of the tenants, Chinchilla and Callan, that this would have proven the existence of ghosts and paranormal activity?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below... and if you're not yet a member of Haunted Society Paranormal Community JOIN HERE It's free and only takes a minute to join our fast growing paranormal network and trusted source of today's paranormal news.
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Tags: Dr. Richard Lopez, Ghost, Ghosts, Haunted, Haunted House, Haunted Society, Haunting, Jersey, Josue Chinchilla, Judge Marilyn Milian, More…
Comment
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Comment by Glenn "Rusty" Sears on May 6, 2013 at 1:54pm -
My question is did anyone go in and actually check the place out? Anyone do research on past inhabitants or events? As for the court ruling she gave her answer the best she could. No evidence is no evidence. Perhaps a local group can go in and check it out.
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Comment by Mr Bagabones McKavanagh on February 9, 2013 at 12:50pm -
mmmmh,Okay,interesting,court decided owner spend night there,even if he/her experiences activity prob wont care,the purpose here is to rent,so tenants pay off mortgage,taxes,give owner equity,etc,owner has a problem,uninvited passed owner or tenant haunting the place,how does owner evict/sue take ghost/spirit/etc to civil court?,if i was owner id invest my money even thought they may be skeptical on hauntings, look for good medium/ghost buster/priest/shaman,and hope they cleanse the place,hopefully he/she ends up with happy - happy tenants,paying rent.?
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Comment by Denise Millan on February 9, 2013 at 12:36am -
I don't agree with the ruling. This couple wanted to move just 10 days after moving in! The experience of moving is quite stressful, time consuming and just an overall pain in the rear!!! So..what would they gain by moving into their "dream home" and then go through the trouble of trying to find another place, re-packing and moving again? I do, however, agree that the good doctor spend the night in there...infact, HE should spend the same 10 days in there!! I know it's difficult to prove a location as being haunted and there are more than a few skeptics out there but, in my opinion, IF a home is found to be haunted and the homeowner is either renting or selling it, a full disclosure of it being haunted should be made immediately!!!
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Comment by JJKypta on November 21, 2012 at 2:06pm -
I don't think it was fair. I think the Judge should have ordered the owner to occupy the home for at least one week to have time for any para-normal action to show. . . Then if there was none, the couple should have been made to pay the back rent. I also think camera's should be placed while the owner occupy's, although that might dis-courage any para-normal activity.
Let's use the "analogy" that they moved in an saw "rats" everywhere, in the night. No one would expect them to stay. . . So, why, if they are having to endure para-normal activity, should they have to stay?
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Comment by David Taylor on July 30, 2012 at 8:05pm
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Thank you Bill as you well know that is the issue a lot of times Uniform means authority and some people do have that problem. I dont hold it against anyone for any reason unless they have intent to harm my large ass LOL Dave
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Comment by Bill Bornhoeft on July 30, 2012 at 10:32am -
Dave...as a former NYC Police Officer, I know some people have an issue with uniforms/authority. This appears to be the case here. I found no faults at all with your posts Dave. As a matter of fact, they were very well written and to the point. No need to apologize. Bill
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Comment by Bill Bornhoeft on July 30, 2012 at 10:20am
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The law is the law ans since the paranormal field is not a proven science i.e., that is is not any proven evidence of ghosts and hauntings, I do not think the couple could prove their case. However, if the landlord had known that there was a prblem with the property and had not disclosed this prior to renting it to the couple, I feel that the couple would have won their case.
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There you go Don, I think that you will find most states have no provision then their rental or home buyers laws that provide for this. I have never seen anything that would fit it, unless you called it an act of God I guess. Tank
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Comment by Don Hebert on May 17, 2012 at 11:01pm -
In MA there is no law that states you must inform either a future tenant or future buyer if the place is haunted. Do I agree with the judgement NO. I do feel the owner should have had a paranormal group investigate the dwelling to try and settle this out of court. The sad part is if he is a dentist he has to have money and I do not feel that losing 3 months rent would really hurt him. Sounds like a slum lord to me.
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Comment by Sharon Coffin on May 15, 2012 at 5:58pm -
We live in Apache Junction. We have been here for 11 years.
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