A contractor approached a business owner about renovating the business's office building. The contractor stated that the renovation materials would be sourced from a premium supplier known for high-quality products. In fact, the contractor knowingly planned to use substandard materials from a cheaper, lesser-known supplier and completed the job with those materials. A year later, significant structural problems appear, and the business owner sues the contractor for intentional (fraudulent) misrepresentation.
To prevail, which elements must the business owner prove?
The contractor intended to cause economic harm by the false statement and the business owner suffered damages as a result.
The contractor's failure to disclose the source of the materials, without more, automatically establishes liability for misrepresentation.
The claim fails because the business owner could have independently investigated the materials instead of relying on the contractor's statements.
The contractor knowingly made a false statement of material fact with the intent that the business owner rely on it, the business owner justifiably relied on the statement, and that reliance caused damages.
A prima facie case of intentional (fraudulent) misrepresentation requires proof that (1) the defendant made a false statement of material fact, knowing it was false; (2) the defendant intended that the plaintiff rely on the statement; (3) the plaintiff justifiably relied on the statement; and (4) the reliance caused actual damages. Here, the contractor knowingly misrepresented the source and quality of the materials with the purpose of inducing the owner's assent to the contract, the owner relied on that representation in hiring the contractor, and the faulty renovation caused economic loss. Options lacking the intent-to-induce element, the reliance element, or the damages element are incomplete and therefore incorrect.
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