Exam 13: Genuineness of Assent and Undue Influence

A misrepresentation of law is actionable as fraud as the innocent party cannot know every legal detail that applies to the situation.

A misrepresentation is considered fraud even if it is made without intent to deceive another party.

If an innocent misrepresentation has been made, the aggrieved party may sue for damages.

To be actionable as fraud, the misrepresentation must have been the sole factor in inducing the innocent party to enter into the contract.

Which of the following is generally NOT actionable as fraud?

A unilateral mistake occurs if both parties know the object of the contract but are mistaken as to its value.

Heather chooses to buy a scarf at Macy's and reads the price on the tag as $50. She uses her credit card to pay for the scarf, but post-purchase, she notices that the price tag actually says $500. This is an instance of a(n) ________.

________ is an event that occurs when one person consciously decides to induce another person to rely and act on a misrepresentation.

Physical duress occurs when there is physical harm to the contractual document, such as complete or partial destruction or manipulation of content.

Intentional misrepresentation is commonly referred to as ________.

Duress is said to have occurred only where a threat involved a physical harm.

Fraud in the factum occurs if a person is deceived as to the nature of his or her act and does not know what he or she is signing.

Which of the following constitutes duress?

Which of the following is true of misrepresentation?

What is scienter?

Millie receives a parcel from her aunt in Indonesia. The delivery man asks her to sign an authorization document to receive the parcel. Millie signs without reading the document, as she is in a hurry. However, on the other side of the document are contract terms that transfer all of Millie's property to the delivery man. This is an instance of ________.

How is a mistake different from fraud?

During the sale of a house, if the seller does not inform the buyer about construction flaws of the house despite the buyer's inquiry, the seller is liable for fraud by concealment.

Duress is a situation in which one party threatens to do a wrongful act unless the other party enters into a contract.

Sally entered into a contract to purchase a car at Acme Auto Sales. During a sales pitch, the Acme salesperson told Sally that the automobile was in excellent condition and that she could expect to drive it for many years because of its extremely low mileage. The odometer on the automobile read 10,000 miles. A week after her car purchase, Sally took the car to a trusted mechanic to get the engine checked out. The mechanic inspected the engine and told Sally that the car had many more miles on it than the odometer indicated. The mechanic told Sally that she had undoubtedly been the victim of odometer rollback. What kind of fraud (intentional misrepresentation) was likely committed? Why? What are the required elements of fraud and were all of these elements present in this scenario?