Did Someone Die in Your Home? Find Out With DiedInHouse
Maybe you’ve seen the trailer for the new Poltergeist movie and noticed at the end a web address for a company called DiedinHouse. While some consider the concept morbid, knowing whether or not someone may have died in your home can do more than just provide peace of mind. It can also give potential buyers leverage in a sale, notify them of a possible stigmatized property, and help current home owners make wise decisions about biohazard cleanup.
The DiedinHouse service is easy to use, and most results are returned within minutes. Data is available for homes in all 50 states. Customers simply input their address on the main site, and for $11.99, they receive a report that includes details of deaths or meth-related activity having occurred in the home. It also includes a list of the home’s former occupants, and any additional findings are sent to the customer for a 30 day period. Those who are searching for a home have the option of purchasing packages that include several searches, which can save them money if they intend to check multiple properties.
DiedinHouse.com was founded in 2013 by Simply Put Solutions, a software development company based in Chapin, SC. Roy Condrey and his business partner Ronnie designed the service in hopes of becoming a one-stop resource for home owners, real estate agents, and really anyone who is interested in knowing more about their home or neighborhood. According to the website, the Died in House™ system “instantly searches over 118 million records and that number continues to grow daily.”
Recently, the site added another feature to the report that informs users if their home was reported as a possible site for meth production. This information can be incredibly valuable to renters and home buyers alike. During meth cooking, acetone, lye, ammonia, and other substances are released into the atmosphere. These chemicals are highly flammable as well as extremely hazardous to ones health. Lingering residue can lead to respiratory issues, cancer, and possibly even death. This aspect of the report zeroes in on public records, tracking residences where labs, dumpsites, and/or glassware and chemicals were reported or seized by law enforcement.
Given the widespread nature of meth production, the matter is one of serious concern for many who are looking at buying a home. Stories of heartbroken homeowners with unlivable properties are commonplace in the media. Furthermore, state regulations vary when it comes to disclosing or cleaning up residences impacted by meth. Without research, those buying or renting an affected property might never know about its past. Furthermore, meth is an incredibly difficult substance to remove; even professional cleaners may need to repeat a meth cleanup multiple times before declaring a home livable. Some specialty biohazard cleanup services like Aftermath do not perform meth cleanup, due to the difficult and costly nature of the work.
As a DiedinHouse customer, if your results indicate someone may have died in your home, you may wonder what possible physical ramifications the situation may have on your property, or what you can do sanitize and protect your investment. Even a small amount of blood can lead to bacterial growth, odors and other problems down the road. Stains main remain, or return at a later time. Furthermore, blood can harbor serious health risks in the form of bloodborne pathogens. Unattended deaths, cases where a death went unnoticed for a length of time, may even cause physical or structural damage to a home. Rather than frantically attempting to clean the whole residence with traditional cleaning methods, the cleaning experts at Aftermath urge homeowners to contact a professional biohazard cleaning service with their concerns.
Beyond alerting consumers to possible health hazards, customers of DiedinHouse also include those who are simply curious or interested in the history of the home. Co-CEO of DiedinHouse.com, Ray Condrey, describes how one customer used the service to learn the names of the home’s former owners so that he could reach out to them regarding heirlooms that were left behind in the home’s attic: “Returning those items to the former owners was a rewarding experience for them. I also know of others who use the service because they have religious, cultural, or spiritual concerns, and don’t wish to live in a home where they feel uneasy or uncomfortable.”
In the future, DiedinHouse hopes to expand their information databases to include additional resources, as well as improving the depth (age) of their data. Reports may also come to include fire data, and the company is also investigating making the service available in other countries.