The state Superior Court has ruled that homeowners do not have a duty to disclose offensive imagery in the properties they sell.

The unusual ruling emerges from a lawsuit filed by a western Pennsylvania family who discovered a swastika and German eagle design in floor tiles in the basement of a home in Beaver they bought last year.

Daniel and Lynn Rae Wentworth said they found the symbols when their nephew lifted up a rug in the basement of a home they bought from Juergen M. Steinmetz. They’re suing Steinmetz, saying he violated Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law and committed fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation by covering up the offensive symbols.

Steinmetz claimed the symbols were innocuous and predated the Nazi regime. But the Superior Court — which interpreted the signs as of

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