KITCHENER - It was a $1-million lawsuit that didn't - ahem - stand a ghost of a chance.

Not according to a judge who dismissed the unusual case after finding there is no evidence a three-storey building in downtown Kitchener is haunted.

"In essence what we have is a double hearsay rumour about a ghost from a couple of people after they had consumed a few beers at a social function," Justice James Sloan wrote.

The lawsuit involved an old building on King Street East that was sold in 2010 for what seemed like the bargain price of $650,000.

A representative of the former owner, the K-W Labour Association, explained at the time that it was anxious to unload the half-leased property at 137-147 King St. E. as its membership dwindled.

But the new owner, Trajan Fisca, apparently wasn't happy with the deal after learning a few months later that it may have come with an unwelcome guest.

"Up on the third floor there is an office . and they say some days you see somebody moving around inside . and there is nobody there," association vice-president Stephen Kramer told The Record for a story on the sale.

Based solely on Kramer's lighthearted remarks, Fisca launched a lawsuit against the association and two real estate agents who handled the sale of the historic 1922 building.

His claim alleged the "existence of a death and/or murder" that should have been disclosed prior to the sale, a failure that effectively meant the property was damaged goods.

It sought $1 million because the resulting haunting, or rumours of a haunting, have devalued the commercial building and made it much harder to rent.

The lawsuit said that "had the defect been disclosed, (Fisca) may not have purchased the property, or, in the alternative, (he) would have negotiated a price which would have accounted for the defect."

In its defence, the association said Kramer was only joking about the building being haunted and has no idea if there was ever a strange death or murder there.

Even if there was a ghost, it argued, it was a case of buyer beware and the association had no obligation to inform Fisca before the deal went through.

Sloan said there is almost no case law in Canada on the "stigmatization of property" and whether sellers are required to tell buyers such things.

But in any event, he ruled, Fisca didn't produce a shred of evidence to substantiate talk of ghosts, which seemed to stem only from something Kramer heard over a few drinks.

The judge said Kramer "makes it clear that he has never seen a ghost, did not believe there was a ghost and that all conversations about the property being haunted were a joke."

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

As a result, Sloan gave the claim in Superior Court in Kitchener short shrift, recently dismissing it without even holding a trial.

Fisca said Monday that he might appeal the ruling. He referred questions to his lawyer, who could not be reached.