In the early 1960s, the children of Nyack, New York spoke of the “haunted” house on the hill. The old Victorian’s newest tenants, The Ackleys, would soon learn first-hand. Phantom footsteps and slamming doors set the supernatural stage. Most mornings, ghosts roused the Ackley children by violently shaking their beds. After reaching into their pockets, they might have found baby rings left by unseen hands. Like many of these “gifts,” they came as quickly as they went: little trinkets, coins, and even silver sugar tongs appearing and vanishing out of thin air.

Despite these occurrences, Helen Nyack told the Reader’s Digest in 1977 that she regarded the spirits as three close friends from the 18th century. Two of them were a couple from the 1750s: Sir George and Lady Margaret. Helen suspected that Lady Margaret was responsible for the bed-shaking, not wanting the Ackley children to miss school. Mrs. Ackley had an encounter with Sir George while painting the living room ceiling: “I asked if he approved of what we were doing to the house, if the colors were to his liking. He smiled and nodded his head.” The final spirit was apparently a Navy Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War who once came “eyeball-to-eyeball” with her son.

For years, the ghosts were local celebrities.

Then came Jeffrey Stambovsky, a buyer from the city who saw only a picturesque home with sweeping views of the Hudson River. He signed the papers, blissfully unaware that his new neighbors might not be entirely among the living. That was, until a local architect mentioned the house’s paranormal reputation.

Stambovsky wanted out. He refused to move into the new home. He demanded to get his down payment back. More importantly, he sought rescission of the contract of sale.

Despite New York following the strict rule of caveat emptor, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court held Stambovsky’s unique circumstances warranted equitable relief. The Court held that, “as a matter of law, the house is haunted.” And that “the most meticulous inspection and search would not reveal the presence of poltergeists at the premises or unearth the property’s ghoulish reputation in the community.” The Court also remarked that “if the language of the contract is to be construed as broadly as defendant urges to encompass the presence of poltergeists in the house, it cannot be said that [Helen Ackley] has delivered the premises “vacant” in accordance with her obligation under the provisions of the contract rider.”

To this day, the decision stands as the only time an American court has officially recognized a haunting. Law students still study it in Property, hopefully reading by lamplight and smiling at the thought of ghosts with legal standing.

And in Nyack, the old Victorian still stands, its windows dark and quiet. But, according to the New York Appellate Division, certainly not vacant. 

Happy Halloween. 🎃

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Alex Mostaghimi is a third-year student at BC Law. Contact him at mostagha@bc.edu.