Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Failure to disclose / silent fraud

A service provider failed to disclose limitations of their service in either the contract or their advertising; I have written documentation that these limitations are known by the provider.

Provider charges an exorbitant early termination fee without any up-front costs (ie not a cellular provider, hardware is rented).

Limitations substantially decrease the value of the service (demonstrable).

Demonstrable monetary harm (service not as advertised, hours worth of cell phone minutes and days of troubleshooting and wrangling with them).

Does it sound like I have a case for silent fraud?


Asked on 7/15/08, 8:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

Re: Failure to disclose / silent fraud

I am not sure if you have a case of fraud, although I am not sure what "silent fraud" is, since that is not a legal term of art in Washington law. Proving fraud is difficult at best, but I think you have other causes of action, including breach of contract, misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and perhaps violation of the consumer protection act, depending on my knowing more information.

The devil is always in the details and your case is no different, so my suggestion to you is to gather all your evidence and hire an attorney to at least do a thorough evaluation (more than a casual consultation) of everything and give you their opinion.

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Answered on 7/16/08, 8:59 pm


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