Discussions in Contracts: Fraud and Misrepresentation Podcast

There are three sets of defenses that might be used to avoid enforcement of a contract which is otherwise valid: (i) capacity related defenses; (ii) assent related defenses; and (iii) public policy related defenses. The topic of this podcast is the basic concepts related to the assent related defenses of fraud and misrepresentation. At the conclusion of this podcast you should be able to (1) explain that a misrepresentation is a statement not in accord with the facts, which might be grounds for the victim to avoid the contract; (2) identify the elements of a misrepresentation defense: (i) the misrepresentation; (ii) the misrepresentation is fraudulent or material; (iii) the misrepresentation induced assent; and (iv) the victim relied and was justified in relying on the misrepresentation; and (3) identify fraud in the factum where assent is obtained by fraudulent means whereby the victim did not know they were assenting to a contract making the contract void.