A Hong Kong buyer asked twice whether anything had happened in the flat; a boy had fallen to his death from its balcony

Kind 1. In July 2000 the son of Mr Leung, whose company Ladefaith owned a fifth-floor flat in Yau Yat Chuen, fell from its balcony and died in hospital about eight hours later. In June 2001 Centaline Property Agency, acting for both sides, showed the flat to Mr Shum. Shum says he asked whether anything about it was weird or unusual and was told "no, no, no"; the agent says he answered "not to my knowledge". On 30 June 2001 Shum's company, Jopard Holdings, signed at HK$10 million and paid a HK$300,000 deposit. Days later Shum learned of the death, said he felt cheated and gave notice to end the deal. The vendor kept the deposit. Centaline claimed its commission. The valuers agreed the death cut the flat's value by 7.5%, and that a suicide or murder would cut 25% to 30%. Judgment was given on 12 November 2004 by Recorder B. Yu SC. The Estate Agents Authority later reported that the buyer won damages from the agent. It notes that "hung uk" has no legal definition and is not information an agent must volunteer, and tells buyers to ask directly about unnatural deaths in the unit or on the same floor. Agents buy lists of such flats from unregulated online databases.