Fraudulent Misrepresentation Remedies
Fraudulent misrepresentation remedies include taking an individual to court to receive compensation or to get a contract rescinded. 3 min read updated on September 19, 2022
Fraudulent misrepresentation remedies include taking an individual to court to receive compensation or to get a contract rescinded. A misrepresentation claim takes place when a party in a contract makes a false statement that entices another party to agree to the contract. Misrepresentation cases fall under common law and via the Misrepresentation Act of 1967.
In cases of misrepresentation, a plaintiff has the right to revoke the agreement.
- Fraudulently: A case where individuals either knowingly or recklessly made false statements without regard to the truth.
Under fraudulent claims, a plaintiff may seek damages in addition to having the contract rescinded.
- Negligently: A case where someone made a careless claim without knowing the full facts of the situation.
Under a negligible misrepresentation, the plaintiff may seek damages and get the agreement revoked.
- Innocently: A case where an individual made a claim believing that the statement was true at the time.
In this case, the plaintiff is still entitled to compensation and/or rescission of the agreement in light of the situation. It’s also worth noting that innocent misrepresentation is easier to win in court than fraud or negligence misrepresentation cases, as they can be harder to win due to the need for stronger evidence.
Misrepresentation Forms
When it comes to innocent or negligent misrepresentation, the court will either award damages or have the agreement rescinded. With that, such claims can be harder to prove because the defendant can simply note that a statement was not meant to be used as a sole reason why a buyer should have agreed to a contract. Misrepresentation claims have similarities but are different for claims pertaining to contract breaches, negligence, mistakes, or deceit.
Among notable elements of actionable misrepresentations would be the requirement for the statement to be made on behalf of a representor to a representee. Regarding pre-contractual statements, the statement in question must be rooted in fact. Such statements may be made orally or in written form, or it can be implied via conduct or words.
Implied Representation
In cases of implied representation, you must test a claimant’s credibility to see if he or she is telling the truth. This is because it’s harder to create the terms from implied representation, and courts are usually hesitant in accepting that a statement should be implied. In cases where damages are claimed, the representee must suffer from some type of loss.
Promises, opinions, or statements of intention, while not constituting an actionable misrepresentation, may come with implied factual representations. Moreover, there are instances where silence can give way to actionable misrepresentation. When determining if misrepresentations are actionable, the context is an important element.
Misrepresentation Claim
To win a misrepresentation case, you must demonstrate that you were enticed by the representation. With that, inducement is not sufficient. Instead, you must show that a presenter intentionally induced you into the agreement. While such a requirement is not easy to apply in cases of implied representation, if a representor intended what was said to be used by a representee, he would be assumed to have intended for the respresentee to have relied on objective reasoning of the statement.
Inducement alone, however, is not enough and it must be shown that the defendant intended for the representee to be induced by his misrepresentation.
To win a misrepresentation case, you must remember that the claim in question must be false. You have a case if the following types of misrepresentation would apply:
- Deliberate
- Fraudulent
- Innocent
Proving Fraud
One of the most common cases you’ll find in such cases would be fraudulent misrepresentation. In this instance, it entails a lack of honesty behind a statement that renders it fraudulent. However, fraudulent claims of this nature must come with strong evidence. In cases where fraud is not present, the damages cannot be obtained if the person who made the statement had sufficient grounds in believing that the statement was indeed true. Nevertheless, you may receive damages, and the damages will be relative to the damage that was done.
You stand a good chance of winning damages if the following applies:
- If you suffered losses as a result of false statements
- The representation itself proved to be fraudulent
- The statement cannot be proven false, but the presenter cannot demonstrate that he or she had sufficient grounds in believing the facts to be true.
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