Opinion ID: 66322
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Fraudulent Concealment (Aikens’ Issue 6)

Text: The Aikens argue that the Appellees committed fraud when they failed to disclose the changes to Chapa’s report until after “USAA relied on them to pay significantly less than what [the Aikens] were entitled to under the homeowner’s policy.” Under Mississippi law, a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation has nine elements: (1) a representation, (2) its falsity, (3) its materiality, (4) the speaker’s knowledge of its falsity or ignorance of its truth, (5) his intent that it should be acted on by the hearer and in the manner reasonably contemplated, (6) the hearer’s ignorance of its falsity, (7) his reliance on its truth, (8) his right to rely thereon, and (9) his consequent and proximate injury. McCord v. Healthcare Recoveries, Inc., 960 So. 2d 399, 406 (Miss. 2007). Fraud must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Id. A claim for fraudulent concealment requires “some action, affirmative in nature, which was designed or intended to prevent and which did prevent, the discovery of facts giving rise to the fraud claim.” Davidson v. Rogers, 431 So. 2d 483, 485 (Miss. 1983). The Aikens’ fraud claim must fail in that they present no evidence that any statement in any of the reports was false. The Aikens must at least submit some evidence that the particular factual claims about how their house was destroyed were false; a reasonable jury could not discern the “falsity” of the reports based entirely on minor changes in wording and the unrebutted addition 8 No. 08-60154 of more specific facts about the scope of wind damage and weather conditions. The house was destroyed by a combination of wind and storm surge damage. Even assuming, however, that the house was destroyed by a tornado as the Aiken’s contend, they presented no evidence that the Appellees knew of their statements falsity or ignored the truth of what actually happened. See McCord, 660 So. 2d at 485. JMOL was proper on the fraud claim. Because there was no fraud claim, the fraudulent concealment claim necessarily also fails; Rimkus cannot have concealed what did not happen. We AFFIRM.