Realtors start database of 'unlucky abodes'

A Beijing real estate agency has set up a database of "unlucky abodes" where irregular deaths have happened to avoid possible disputes with their clients, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The title is given to homes in which suicides, murders or other irregular deaths have occurred, explained an employee of the real estate agency.

The report did not reveal the name of the agency.

Many Chinese believe that homes where irregular deaths have happened are unlucky and can bring misfortune to subsequent families living there.

The company set up the database after a dispute with a client. The client bought a house via the agency but appealed to the company after moving in that someone had once died an irregular death in the house. The company had no choice but to compensate the client 50,000 yuan ($8,060), the employee said.

The employee said the company has found more than 900 such homes in the almost 4,000 communities it surveyed in Beijing. He said the privacy of those houses is protected in the database and the information will be available to prospective buyers but would not be made public.