Did the builder defraud me out of money by moving the closing date up then later reducing prices?
Full Question:
Answer:
Courts have held that a party may rescind a contract for fraud, incapacity, duress, undue influence, material breach in performance of a promise, or mistake, among other grounds. In order to prove a fraud claim, it must be shown that the defendant had an intent to deceive. If deception was used to induce another to rely on a promise and such reliance caused harm, it is possible to recover damages. Fraud may be made by an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading.
In order to be found liable for fraud, an intent to deceive must be proven. To hold a builder liable for fraud in preparing or procuring a contract, it would be need to be shown that they had knowledge of the facts and misrepresented or intentionally concealed them in order to cause you to act in reliance on their representations, and that reliance led to harm. For example, if a builder stated that the house would not be sold at a lower price, or that prices would not be lowered in the future, and the could prove that this was an intentional misrepresentation made to induce the buyer to move up the closing date, avoiding a price decrease known to the builder, the contract may be able to be rescinded for fraud.