What to do when someone misrepresents facts to induce you into an agreement or contract?
When you enter into a contract you have bound yourself to perform the terms of that contract. The law expects you to do what you agreed to. However, there are situations where you can back out of a contract and refuse to be bound by it even if you signed it. One such situation is when the other party has not been honest with you on a very important aspect of the contract. The law calls this type of dishonesty, misrepresentation.
A misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made to induce someone to enter into a contract. Some misrepresentations made by traders about goods or services are criminal offences and they can be reported as Fraud.
Besides pressing criminal charges, you may also be able to sue the other person for making a false statement. For example, if a car salesman says that a car he is selling has a certain mileage (say less than 10000 kilometres) and the vehicle, after the sale, turns out to be more than 120000 kilometres in mileage. This example qualifies as a misrepresentation and as a buyer you have a right to back out of the sale, return the vehicle and get a refund of whatever you have paid.
Alternatively, you can sue the seller for a reduction in the price of the motor vehicle. If the price you paid was say US$ 10000 and the actual value of the vehicle with its 120000 mileage is US$ 7500, you can get a refund of US $ 2500 and keep the vehicle.
These remedies apply in any situation where there has been a misrepresentation of a fact. It does not only apply to the sale of vehicles.
For you to succeed in suing the seller for misrepresentation you must prove to the Court that;
1. The seller made a statement that he knew was false or he never bothered to verify whether it was true or not,
2. Furthermore, you have to prove that you relied on that misrepresentation to enter into the contract. The Court must be convinced that if you had known the truth you would not have entered into the contract.
3. The misrepresentation must be material, in the sense that it must be about a fact that can be verified. For example, a car salesman may say “German cars are the best in the world” This would not be a material misrepresentation because it is more of his opinion than fact. It is a different matter than when the salesman says this car has not traveled more than 10000 kilometers.
The author of this snippet is Simon Flemming Mutandi, a lawyer who writes in his personal capacity. The purpose of these pieces is to share an understanding of the law. The language and content are simplified to give the reader a digest of complex legal issues. For more information contact 0783475020 or email simonflemming1@gmail.com.
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