'Ghost House' in New York has been legally declared as haunted

There's a house in New York which has been legally declared as haunted thanks to something called the 'Ghostbusters ruling'.

For years the Ackley family of Nyack, New York, loudly announced that their home was haunted by at least one ghost, even claiming that the spooky spectre had left gifts for them.

Helen and George Ackley claimed that their daughter woke up every morning to a mysteriously shaking bed which only stopped when she loudly declared she wanted a lie-in, with the supposed ghost seemingly respecting her wishes.

The ghost even apparently gave the nod of approval to the family when they were repainting the house, with Helen claiming the spectre appeared during the renovation and smiled and nodded when she asked if he liked the colour they'd chosen.

Ackley said there were up to three ghosts in her house, claiming that the house was haunted by the spirits of people called Sir George and Lady Margaret, and by a sailor.

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If there really was a ghost in the house the family eventually managed to get used to living alongside the phantom lodger and peacefully cohabited their home with it for over 20 years.

The ghost gained nationwide attention and the Ackley's house even became a spot the town's walking tour would take people to visit.

However, when it came time to sell the house, Helen Ackley suddenly kept very quiet about the possible existence of a ghost.

The house was almost sold to Jeffrey and Patrice Stambovsky, but when they learned they were buying a haunted house and might have to share with a ghost they backed out.

The Ackleys didn't want to give back the deposit and in retaliation the Stambovskys sued them, with Jeffrey arguing that failing to say anything about the house being haunted was a case of fraudulent misrepresentation.

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The whole thing wound up in court as the families clashed over whether the house was really haunted or not, leaving legal professionals to sort out the mess.

While the first attempt to take things to trial was dismissed, an appeal from Stambovsky eventually got him a court case over the haunted house.

In the end the court ruled that whether ghosts were real or not, the Ackley family had changed the value of the property by claiming they lived in a haunted house.

The judges were split three to two in favour of Stambovsky's claims, with the court ruling that a potential buyer wouldn't know if a house was haunted before moving in.

This became known as the 'Ghostbusters ruling', named after the incredibly popular 1984 comedy, and the house was legally declared as haunted.

There you have it, actual, legal proof that ghosts are real.

Sort of.

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Topics: US News, News, Ghosts, Weird

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker