This story couldn't be more sad -- or more horrifying.
An unsuspecting Idaho couple, Ben and Amber Sessions, bought what they believed was their dream home, only to discover after they moved in with their two young children (and another on the way!) that the house was infested with hundreds and hundreds of snakes.
Why were there so many snakes? The five-bedroom house had likely been built on top of a garter snake den where the nonpoisonous reptiles congregate in the fall and winter, rendering the house essentially unlivable: The Sessions could hear the snakes slithering inside the walls; and their drinking water reeked of the foul-smelling musk that the snakes release as a warning to predators.
But here's the clincher: The real estate agent who sold the Sessions the house knew about the snake infestation all along and still convinced them to buy it.
In fact, the whole town knew about the "snake house." The couple who had lived there previously -- who eventually abandoned the property and tried (unsuccessfully) to sue the real estate agent -- even invited a local news station to film the snakes back in 2006.
Unfortunately, the Sessions were oblivious to the house's notorious history: They signed a document that noted the snake infestation, believing the ridiculous story by their real estate agent that the snakes were just an excuse invented by the previous owners to leave their mortgage behind.
And where were the neighbors during all of this? Here's what one had to say:
I felt bad ... By the time we knew someone had bought it, they were already moving in. It was too late.
The Sessions fled the house and filed for bankruptcy; the house foreclosed. Now that it's back on the market and other unsuspecting people are looking at it, maybe it's time for the neighbors to do the neighborly thing and actually warn potential buyers to stay far, far away from this snake trap.
Image via shawncampbell/Flickr
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Comments 66
Where is this place so WE can warn others!?
That realtor needs to be hung up by his or her toes over a pit of those snakes!
they should sue the realtor..
On the one hand, you can shake a finger at the couple and say they needed to do their research. Although I can understand why they woudn't. Two small children, and another on the way means that both parents have very hectic schedules. They need to find a home before baby is born. Also, they're moving to a new area (since they had never heard about the snake house before, they had to be from out of town), so they had a lot of work to do in regards to coordinating movers. Maybe these aren't good excuses for not doing the legwork on this, but I can see how it would have fallen through the cracks. But on the other hand, if there are so many snakes that their musk is getting into the water, that has to be some kind of public health violation. I would think selling an infested house would be illegal on so many levels. Can they not prosecute for endangering lives on this? The snakes themselves aren't poisonous (we have them over here in Washington, too), but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. There's the musk getting into the walls and water. Breathing that in can't be healthy. There's the feces. No animal feces is healthy, but thousands of snakes all pooping in that one house. Someone is going to get sick. And when they do, that realtor is going to have much bigger issues than losing a comission...