Section 9 Misrepresentation and Fraud Claims

• Library: Consumer Law and Practice 2010

When a seller misrepresents the condition of a house, the buyer may have a claim under a theory of intentional misrepresentation (fraud) or negligent misrepresentation.

To establish a prima facie case of intentional misrepresentation (fraud), the plaintiff must show the following elements:

(1) the representation;

(2) its falsity;

(3) its materiality;

(4) the speaker's knowledge of its falsity or his/her ignorance of the truth;

(5) the speaker's intent that his/her representation should be acted on by the hearer in the manner reasonably contemplated;

(6) the hearer's ignorance of the falsity of the representation;

(7) the hearer's reliance on the representation being true;

(8) his right to rely thereon; and

(9) the...